With the weather getting more severe and both air and water pollution expanding to vast territories such as tropical rainforests in Brazil, it is no secret the Earth is currently battling a climate crisis. With news channels around the world broadcasting a variety of life-altering implications, ignorance is no longer an option. People are forced to face the truth – the Earth is hurting. While many realize this fact, they are still left with the difficult task of how to fix these issues.
Protecting the Earth is a daily choice for individuals but in order to help spread awareness, the international holiday of Earth Day was created. Earth Day is annually celebrated on April 22 and works to help better the planet and reverse damage caused by pollution and industries.
The movement surrounding environmental awareness was popularized following the publication of Rachel Carson’s book “Silent Spring” in 1962. The book was named a New York Times bestseller and sparked more conscious thought regarding the chemicals people were putting into their bodies and the environment.
Earth Day was first officially celebrated in 1970, marking the largest secular (non-religiously affiliated) protest in the world, according to EarthDay.org. People all around the world mobilized and fought for a variety of environmental injustices.
EarthDay.org is one of the main leaders of this movement and primarily works to end plastic pollution, protect efforts in conservation and restoration, promote climate and environmental literacy, improve the quality of food and the environment and act against climate change. Following increased awareness surrounding ecosystem protection, EarthDay.org has crafted a vision for changing the world.
“Our world needs transformational change. It’s time for the world to hold sectors accountable for their role in our environmental crisis while also calling for bold, creative, and innovative solutions,” EarthDay.org’s mission statement said. “This will require action at all levels, from business and investment to city and national government.”
While citizens are more and more included to recognize action needs to be taken in order to reverse the decades of pollution, many struggle to find ways to help. To assist community members in their efforts to give back, many local businesses and organizations have their own efforts to help celebrate Earth Day.
The Downtown Market invites people to celebrate Earth Day with a variety of events on April 21. They offer things like a vintage clothing shop, which promotes reusing items, as well as seeing and interacting with live animals. There are also nature-related kids’ activities for young ones who want to participate in the celebration.
Other local events include things like cleaning up Versluis Lake on Saturday April 20, sponsored by local business, The Remedy House. There is also a park cleanup sponsored by Archival Brewing; they will be focusing on Grand River and Grand Rogue Parks along West River Drive in order to help better the community.
Northview is doing their part as well with helping better the community. There will be a styrofoam collection on Saturday, May 18 from 10:00am-3:00pm at Crossroads Middle School. The styrofoam will be recycled and then turned into new products, promoting the reuse of goods. Crossroads Green-Team leader Dana Krueger is assisting with this event.
“The trailer will be located near the tennis courts across from Crossroads side parking lot. Dart container[s] will take the collection to Mason Michigan where it will be processed back to plastic pellets and then made into a variety of products,” Krueger said. “There is a PaperGator close by so feel free to put junk mail, old magazines and all forms of paper products.”
The high school Green Team practices the Earth Day values all year round. The club meets once a month after school and collects paper from classroom recycling bins. Junior Elliana Ramer decided to become a consistent member of the Green Team this school year because of her interest in learning about and giving back to her community.
“I am very interested in environmental science and helping the environment and [Green Team] is a very easy club to be a part of because it’s just once a month and you just go around [the school to collect paper],” Ramer said.
While many people get into the spirit of giving back to the community on Earth Day, Ramer believes that having this opportunity to give back to the community year round is crucial.
“I think it’s really important that we educate people and get people involved,” Ramer said. “[Also] just [helping people] learn about the environment and getting involved because it’s where we live, we all need the Earth to survive.”
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