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21 April 2010
Posted in
3) Spring Celebrations
Doesn’t it seem somewhat juxtaposed, that something as big as the Earth, and its ecological challenges, gets a “day”… let alone an “hour”? At least it’s a step in the right direction...
Twenty years ago, we remember doing Earth Day beach clean-ups. But it feels like Earth Day celebrations are really only recently starting to gain the momentum they need given the task at hand: helping to raise awareness for people, businesses and governments to clean-up their bad habits and set a cleaner, greener, sustainable course for the future.
- Earth Day.org
- Earth Hour
- Recent Earth Awareness Actions, Far & Near
- Earth-friendly Sacrifices & the Green Economy
- Grassroots Change
Per EarthDay.org:
“Forty years after the first Earth Day, the world is in greater peril than ever. While climate change is the greatest challenge of our time, it also presents the greatest opportunity – an unprecedented opportunity to build a healthy, prosperous, clean energy economy now and for the future.
Earth Day 2010 can be a turning point to advance climate policy, energy efficiency, renewable energy and green jobs. Earth Day Network is galvanizing millions who make personal commitments to sustainability. Earth Day 2010 is a pivotal opportunity for individuals, corporations and governments to join together and create a global green economy. Join the more than one billion people in 190 countries that are taking action for Earth Day.”
Earth Hour
Earth Hour is a much newer occurrence than the 4 decade-old Earth Day. Yet event Earth Hour reports having a “record-breaking 125 countries and territories taking part” on March 27th, 2010, from 8:30-9:30pm. It too is gaining momentum. Hopefully a single hour dedicated to an “annual” Earth Hour event will eventually evolve into monthly, weekly, or even daily Earth Hour events.
Other than 2010’s Earth Hour (March 27th) and Earth Day (April 22nd), there is a lot being done near and far to help raise awareness regarding the issues facing the Earth today, including primarily climate change.
Recent Earth Awareness Actions, Far & Near
- This past October 2009, 350.org, an organization promoting the maximum ‘safe level’ of parts per million (ppm) of CO2 emissions into the atmosphere rallied people all over the world to promote this concept and the fact that we continue to creep closer to the limit at an alarming rate. We attended a 350.org rally organized here in Halifax by the Halifax Climate Change Coalition.
- Last month, on March 22nd, countries around the world celebrated World Water Day, with a focus on water quality. That day, there were many events to choose from to show your support, even here in Halifax, like the screening of Waterlife.
- On March 27th, for Earth Hour” in Halifax, there was a Earth Hour, Unplugged event organized at the Grand Parade in downtown Halifax. Who knows, maybe eventually our environmental situation will ‘warrant’ and Earth Hour every week. Oh that’s right, it already does…
- Last week, on April 17th, there was a march to “Celebrate Local Food” from the Halifax farmers market to the North Commons.
- And on April 22nd, 2010, the world is organizing and celebrating the 40th official Earth Day.
The point is. People are beginning to stand up and take notice regarding the climate change problems with which we are faced, and other environmental issues that concern our people, planet and communities. And a lot of steps in the right direction have begun to occur. But so much more needs to be done.
Earth-friendly Sacrifices & the Green Economy
Per the recent edition of the The Coast’s Green Halifax guide, it’s “no longer enough to switch to using compact fluorescent light bulbs”, nor to turn your thermostats down at night. And being or becoming aware is just the beginning.
Isn’t it finally time for BIG changes?… and maybe even some sacrifices too regarding the comforts of daily living that have become expected. And sometimes, small changes we make that can have a big impact, don’t even need to really affect our daily comforts if we give a little thought to how we could slightly alter our daily habits.
The new ‘green’ economy provides a lot of products and services with which to make some of these changes. In fact, beyond providing options for us, the new ‘green’ economy opens up a plethora of opportunities for ourselves and our own communities to thrive if we too were to embrace this rapidly growing and increasingly financially motivated sector.
Wouldn't it be great if there were something you could do to get a piece of the ‘green’ economy...
Grassroots Change
We can no longer wait for governments to legislate a sustainable future for our environment. We need a more bottom up solution.
Environmental change has to come from consumer choices, pressuring businesses to make ecological commitments (if they don’t come to it on their own initiative).
And WE have to take the lead on this, every time we eat our food, put on our clothing, use electricity and water, drive cars, or open our wallets.
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