By Lisa Shipek
Everyone has their favorite holidays; for some it is Thanksgiving, for some 4th of July, and for others New Years and Christmas. My favorite holiday will be having its 40th anniversary on April 22, 2010. That’s right, Earth Day, started in 1970, will be reaching its 40 year mark!
I grew up in a small town in New Hampshire, and every year for Earth Day my mom would take us kids out on walks to pick up trash around our neighborhood. Earth Day was a day my family worked together to show our appreciation for Mother Earth. There were no fairs or festivals where I lived, and I knew of very few other people that really celebrated Earth Day.
These days, everyone wants to have an Earth Day celebration; cities, universities, schools, community groups, and businesses organize their special event as close to April 22nd as possible. For some, Earth Day is just another reason to hand out flyers and trinkets or to make a token gesture towards sustainability. If this has been your experience regarding Earth Day, it is not too late to start a meaningful Earth Day event or get involved with one!
The purpose of Earth Day is to inspire people to make changes to their everyday lives to protect and conserve the Earth. The hallmark of a good Earth Day event is engaging the public in meaningful conservation activities, increasing environmental awareness, reducing waste, and celebrating.
Because Earth Day is my favorite holiday, I start dreaming up Watershed Management Group’s Earth Day plans sometime in the fall. WMG’s Earth Day events over the last three years have all focused on creating community green spaces along public streets and undeveloped corner lots. In the course of four hours, 50 to 75 people come out and help create water harvesting basins and berms, plant native trees, shrubs, and wildflowers, and enjoy a festive gathering of food and music.
This year we will be continuing in the tradition and creating yet another green space along a neighborhood street. However, we’ve decided that one day to celebrate the Earth is not enough, so we have designed a series of events to make April Earth Month. The diverse array of WMG Earth Month events includes:
- a green streets block party featuring green infrastructure tours, local foods, and live music
- a street painting event to create an environmental mural
- guided bike tours of water harvesting sites
- hands-on workshop to convert a neighborhood street into a green street
- hands-on workshops to install water harvesting systems at residential homes
- a local foods and skills bartering market
Please join me in celebrating my favorite holiday, whether at one of WMG event’s or with your family and friends on your favorite patch of Earth.
To learn more, visit www.watershedmg.org/earthmonth.