Here at Just Energy, we believe that every day is an occasion to celebrate our remarkable planet! There is, however, an “official” day dedicated to all things Planet Earth: April 22nd is recognized the world over as “Earth Day.” This past Sunday marked the 42nd Earth Day to date.
The first Earth Day was established amidst the political and social turmoil of the late 1960s, and officially became a national day of recognition in 1970. Since its inception, Earth Day has steadily gained in popularity and acknowledgement. There are currently over 175 countries that participate in Earth Day, and in 2009, the United Nations officially designated April 22nd as “International Mother Earth Day.”
This year, individuals and organizations the world over showed their support by participating in initiatives such as planting trees, turning out the lights, biking or walking instead of driving, community greening activities, and even outdoor family movie events! (Anybody else remember “Fern Gully?”)
- The Nature Conservancy put together a Guinness World Record challenge with “Picnic for the Planet,” attempting to organize the most people picnicking in 24 hours.
- MillionTreesNYC and JetBlue Airlines came together to set up the “One Thing That’s Green” annual tree-planting event in New York City.
- Over 125 speakers and hundreds of thousands of attendees promoted sustainable lifestyles at the NYC Green Festival.
- Starbucks in Canada offered an Earth Day special: Free coffee for customers who brought in a travel mug instead of opting for the usual paper cup.
- Celebrations in Washington D.C. went on all day on the National Mall, promoting the Earth Day Network’s “Mobilize the Earth” campaign.
- Earth Day Canada promoted the “Take It Up” campaign, encouraging people to pledge and take up healthy/green habits.
Although this year’s official Earth Day activities have come and gone, it’s not too late to do your part towards promoting a healthy planet! Be sure to check out the Billion Acts of Green initiative. Organized through the Earth Day Network, this project unites individuals, organizations, businesses and governments in an attempt to reach one billion “green” actions by June 2012.
The Environmental Protection Agency offers an annual “Earth Day Take Home Kit” to help educate families about the different ways they can impact climate change, decrease pollution and stay healthy and environmentally conscious. We’re big fans of the “Planet Protectors Club for Kids” as a great way to teach your kids about becoming advocates for recycling and other green efforts!
There’s also still time to participate in NASA’s Earth Day Contest to create a YouTube video of NASA’s exploration of the planet. Deadline is May 31st, 2012.
Coming up in June, Earth Day Canada will be hosting the 9th Annual Earth Day Canada Gala at The Drake Hotel in Toronto on Wednesday, June 6th. A great event for a great cause! Find tickets online here.
Just can’t wait until next year? Bookmark this handy Earth Day Countdown! We’ll be counting down the days, too!