Every April 22, we are reminded to do something good for the planet. The rest of the year, our relationship with Mother Earth might better resemble the one between the boy and the Giving Tree in Silverstein's book. As a human race, most of us care about the environment, but we still take what we want without leaving so much as a "ME & T" carved in the bark.
What does it really mean to live like every day is Earth Day? Jennifer Iselin, Director of Special Projects at the Natural Resources Defense Council, offers up some easy green tips. "You should take stock of where you're using the most energy or creating the most waste and try to find ways to minimize that," said Iselin. "If you're a gadget junky, make sure to unplug those chargers. If you're a clothes-hound, switch it up by shopping vintage a little more often. If you're a take-out fiend, be sure to recycle any packaging you can."
When our lives are so busy, we struggle to remember to connect the dots in the big picture. But maybe if we leave little notes to self in the morning--My five-minute shower uses 10 to 25 gallons of water. In sub-Saharan Africa, women my age spend 15 to 17 hours a week collecting water that may or may not kill their children.--then it will become second nature to do the right thing. Conserve, reduce, reuse, recycle.
Whether you go online or show up in person, pick at least one of these 16 ways to celebrate Earth Day in 2011 and beyond.
1. Donate $1 to The Nature Conservancy's Plant A Billion Trees project. $1 = 1 tree planted in Brazil's Atlantic Forest.
2. Plan a wild, green activity-packed day outdoors at your local zoo. The Association of Zoos and Aquariums' Party for the Planet event includes dozens of zoo participants across the country. Check the site for more details on what's happening in your neighborhood.
3. Ditch the gas-guzzler, hop on a bike for the free family-friendly Rock to Rock Earth Day Ride in New Haven. Explore Connecticut's lush sites, pitch in on an environmental service project, enjoy safe bike trails, and eat locally sourced food during a rock concert.
4. At the 2nd Annual Green Queens Earth Day Fair on May 15 in New York, let the kids try their hand at worm composting while you learn about organic chocolate, food coops, and eco cleaning products. Go home with free reusable water bottles, shopping bags and CFL light bulbs. [Fun factoid: If just one million people used one less incandescent bulb for one hour a day, that would save more than 50 million watts of electricity per day. Expand that to 100 million homes and we could reduce our dependence on foreign oil by many tens of millions of barrels every year.]
5. Attend a free lecture, "Here on Earth: A Natural History of the Planet," at the Harvard Museum of Natural History on April 21. Even non-history buffs will be fascinated by what scientist Tim Flannery has to say, from the birth of stars to the human-driven demise of the planet's ecosystem.
6. Plant a tree for free with two clicks of your mouse: Make envirosearch.org your home page and like it on facebook. Every time you do a search using this CarbondFund.org-produced browser you are helping to fund innovative environmental projects around the world. Bing!
7. Reconnect with the environment during National Park Week, April 16-24, when all 394 parks will waive the entrance fees.
8. The National Zoo wants you to challenge your child to develop outside-the-box solutions for lightening our carbon footprint. The best submissions will earn eight people a fabulous all-expenses paid trip to Washington D.C.
9. Over 800 spas across the country are set to participate in National Spa Week, April 11-17, when all treatments offered are $50, be it a 60-minute Swedish massage or an anti-aging Japanese facial. Support your local eco-conscious spas, like Epi Center MedSpa in San Francisco--the first one of its kind to be Green LEED Certified--or Turning Heads Salon & Day Spa in New York City.
10. Get your hands dirty before you feast at iCi restaurant in Brooklyn on Sunday, April 17. Slow Food NYC is hosting "Urban Gardening Class and Local Feast: Everything comes from Dirt," an event geared towards urbanites that will get you ready to grow edibles to use in your own very locally sourced dishes. $45-$55
To read the rest of the story and get more great green tips, visit offManhattan.com
Photo: Courtesy of R. Kennedy for GPTMC