Earth Day.

Earth Day is a day where we can stop to think about our commitment to the earth.  It started in 1970 and has grown massively over the past 41 years.  I often read blogs, links, tweets, articles etc about Earth Day and feel as if I'm not doing enough, after all, on this day there is a huge hype about what we can do for Mother Earth and her resources.  But then I get to wondering, how many of these Earth Day tweeters/bloggers etc have actually just jumped on the bandwagon because it seems like the cool thing to do?  How many of them are actually committed to Mother Earth every single day?

I hear all of the time about people who say such things as "I don't need to buy my sweetheart a gift and card for Valentine's as I love him/her all year round"  and "My Mum knows how much she means to me so why am I being guilt tripped each year onMother's Day"  Well, I feel the same when it comes to things like Earth Day.  Don't get me wrong here, I think days such as this have a fantastic impact on creating awareness and that if even a small proportion of humankind becomes more Earth aware because of Earth Day then it is serving its' purpose.

But I won't be guilt tripped by people who will get involved with the whole day and then over the next few days they start to forget about Mother Earth and caring for her.  It isn't possible (not really) for us to do huge acts everyday - such as the like that some people do on Earth Day.  But we can make change by doing small acts each day, little and often doesn't have to mean nothing at all.  Of course I'm not knocking anyone's sincerity in such matters, I just hate those who never do the green thing but then become holier than thou on a day like today and then try to give others a hard time for not doing something huge.  It just doesn't occur to them that we are doing something always, whatever it may be.

A tip that is appropriate right now is this one:

As the weather turns nice we tend to spend more time outdoors, in our gardens and so on.  Picture the scene; it's a beautiful day, you have friends and/or family round and you are making merry.  The day is so wonderful that you decide to sit out as long as you can, but as the sun sets it starts to feel chilly.  You don't really want to have to go indoors as it's such a beautiful night, albeit cooler.  Your thoughts instantly turn to creating heat in order for you to spend more time outdoors enjoying nature.  This is when some folks start to consider buying patio heaters.  A patio heater creates warmth and light and seems like the ideal solution for when the evening is cooler.  But they are a huge drain on the environment.  Instead, grab a few candles to create some light and put on a cardigan/jumper/fleece jacket or use a blanket or rug. 

Far better for our health and the environment.

© 2011 Susan Park. All Rights Reserved.