Earth Day

Earth Day, held annually on April 22^nd, is a holiday celebrated around the world. After all, cultures and traditions may vary, but we all have the earth in common. The first recognition of Earth Day took place in 1970 in the United States; the holiday went international in 1990 and is now celebrated in 175 countries. The original intent of specifically choosing April 22^nd was to maximize college participation in the event because the date falls neither during spring break nor exams. In elementary schools, it’s the third most celebrated holiday, after Halloween and Christmas. The point of Earth Day is to raise awareness and appreciation of our environment. Every year the population of the world grows, which means more people to protect the earth or, if we aren’t careful, more people to harm it. I’m grateful to live in Seattle, a city that is very aware of recycling and being green; however, everyone can be an active caretaker of the earth. Recycling is the easiest way to reduce your impact on the environment. Just think about aluminum cans: in the US, about 350,000 aluminum cans are produced every minute. Over 80 billion aluminum cans are used every year, but there’s no limit to how many times aluminum can be recycled. Once you recycle an aluminum can, it has the potential to be part of a new can in a matter of weeks. This Earth Day, maybe you could just take a minute to sort some things out of the trash can to be recycled. Maybe you could make a decision to start composting. Every little bit you do keeps the earth beautiful for future generations.