Each year Earth Day is celebrated around the world on April 22nd. The holiday highlights the importance of protecting our planet from things like climate change and pollution.
A brief history
The first Earth Day was in 1970, the same year that the EPA was founded. The Library of Congress’ historical archives explain that public pressure for cleaner air and water was what led to the creation of both the EPA and Earth Day. US Senator Gaylord Nelson encouraged young people at the time to fight for a green earth as much as they fought for peace in Vietnam. Today, Earth Day celebrations are hosted across the globe. These range from earth-centered lessons for students, to environmental protests, to tree plantings.
Earth Day at Davies
Here at Davies, the Environmental Club leads the charge in celebrating Earth Day by hosting events throughout the week. These activities promote the Earth and encourage our school to be green year round. This year, students can expect to see some popular activities of the past such as environmental trivia and sticker sales. One new activity this year will be pot painting after school, which the group is encouraging everyone to participate in.
Senior and Environmental Club leader Xavier Honer spoke on the unique importance of conservation and Earth Day for students in particular.
“As young people, it’s important for us to be aware of environmental issues and work to address them because we are the ones most affected by the dual threats of pollution and climate change. The older generations won’t be around as long, and thus have less incentive to fight for the environment, so the responsibility falls on us,” he explains.
“I’d encourage everyone to take the initiative to learn more about the environment and get active in our community and our world on behalf of our planet. After all, we only have one.“
As easy as it is to agree that we should do something about the planet, actually pinpointing what those actions should be can be difficult.
Individual Actions
As popular as the phrase, reduce, reuse, recycle has become, it’s easy to forget that there are actually 5 r’s and they’re in order of importance.
The first R is refuse. Wherever you can refuse excessive waste, do it. This can look like carrying your own groceries and turning down the bags they give you at the store. It could also look like refusing to use single use utensils when you’re eating out. This can take some time to get used to but doesn’t have to be difficult and is the first step to successfully helping our planet.
Second is reduce. This is a skill which is getting increasingly difficult to practice as social media often leaves consumers feeling as though they need the newest clothes, appliances, and technology. Still, it’s important to remember that you don’t need everything your favorite influencer is promoting. Instead, use products for their entire life span- not just until you get sick of them. Buy clothes you’ll wear more than once or twice. Don’t defeat the purpose of reusable water bottles by buying 4 of them! When it comes to disposable products, use them until they’re completely gone and plan your meals so there isn’t so much wasted leftover food.
The third R is reuse. While reusable products may seem more expensive off the bat, in the long run they’re better for both the environment and your checkbook. This includes things like metal straws, washrags instead of paper towels and reusable dishes over paper plates. Beyond buying reusable products, this can also apply to things you already have. For example, in my house we reuse gift bags more than once and keep extra worksheets for scratch paper!
The fourth R is repurpose. Not everything can be reused multiple times- at least not for the same function. Before getting rid of something, think of how else it could be used. A recent trendy example of this can include cutting old clothes to fit differently. If you know how to sew, projects like this can get as elaborate as you like! Glass bottles could be vases or containers or old jewelery can become new beads or ice cream pails could become planters! The key here is to be creative.
Recycle. This is the fifth and final, if-all-else-fails, step to take. Recycling is a great way to keep as much material in the cycle of use as possible but it should never be your first line of defense. If all you do for the planet is throw your excess of Amazon boxes into the blue bin in your garage- you’re probably not doing enough. This isn’t to discourage you from recycling but it should serve as a reminder that there are more, better, options out there.