In order to take care of the Earth, getting the local community involved in more environmentally friendly lifestyle strategies celebrates the message that Earth Day promotes on April 22.
The origins of Earth Day stem from the days of factories and industry.
Production led to Americans’ increased consumption and the production of air pollution.
As EarthDay.org said, “mainstream America remained largely oblivious to environmental concerns and how a polluted environment threatens human health.”
Once Rachel Carson’s book, “Silent Spring,” came about in 1962, it “raised public awareness and concern for living organisms, the environment and the inextricable links between pollution and public health.”
Using this, Senator Gaylord Nelson recruited young activist Denis Hayes to organize teach-ins at colleges, later transforming into nationwide events, which led to the creation of Earth Day on April 22, 1970.
Fast forward to today, Students Against Violating the Earth (SAVE) advisor Kim Wilson honors Earth Day by doing a campus cleanup.
“We are working with the Perkiomen Watershed Conservancy on April 11,” Wilson said. “We are having a cleanup mostly around Lake Varano, meaning just pulling up trash for a few hours. Anybody’s welcome to join.”
Throughout April, SAVE is cleaning up a section of Broad Street, which they do “a couple times.”
SAVE visited Generations of Indian Valley, where officers gave a presentation about Earth Day, “played trivia games with the folks” and built milk jug gardens with seeds to “remind people of older generations why Earth Day is every day.”
“This is our big push for Buy Nothing. Hopefully, this is going to become a recurring thing, where I would encourage people to consider what they are buying before they buy it,” Wilson said.
According to SAVE officer Sophie Dubois, “SAVE does a greenout for Earth Day with the school to show support for our Earth.”
For her own celebration, Dubois takes time to educate herself on “issues, solutions and history related to our Earth on Earth Day to reflect on our world.”
Dubois believes that the efforts people take to be environmentally friendly do not have to be large.
“I think people can help out by just being more conscious and aware of the effect that their actions have, and making small swaps or decisions,” Dubois said. “I think if people just take an extra second to think about their actions, it would help out.”
SAVE’s collective actions act as examples that show how efforts to preserve the environment do not have to be on a large scale.
“Consider what you’re buying, carpool, especially kids at the school, tread lightly about purchasing food. Food waste is huge,” Wilson said. “Like, do you really need that Starbucks giant latte every day? Really be thoughtful about the things that you’re consuming. And finally, drive gently.”
Taking efforts in her classroom, Little Red Play School Director Teresa Doyle “teaches the children how to care for their Earth because it’s a place that they’re going to live forever.”
“What are some simple things that they can do to help the earth, whether it’s turning off the water when they’re brushing their teeth, recycling,” Doyle said. “They’re 3-5 years old, so we like to keep it simple.”
Doyle’s high school students taking her preschool lab class will “come up with some craft projects, more science-type projects” for the preschool kids to celebrate Earth Day with.
“In the past, we actually did plant flowers out on our playground that bloom over the years,” Doyle said.
As for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), people can “follow the three R’s to conserve natural resources and landfill space.”
“Reduce, reuse, recycle. Use long-lasting light bulbs,” NOAA said. “Energy-efficient light bulbs reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Also, flip the light switch off when you leave the room.”
Similarly, Wilson believes that “there is so much out there that you can do unless your head’s buried in the sand.” “There are lots of little things, and the key point is that it all matters,” Wilson said. “It is every little action of every little human being, all eight billion of us, that makes this Earth.”