Happy Earth Day!

It’s the day, since 1970, that we remember where we live (that beautiful, blue rock that takes us around the Sun) and consider what habits we could adopt to be kinder to her. The brainchild of Senator Gaylord Nelson, who was elected to the United States Senate in 1962 from the state of Wisconsin, Earth Day was born to bring environmental issues and solutions to the forefront. Senator Nelson was inspired by the “teach-ins” about the Vietnam War being held on college campuses in the United States, and by implementing that model, a platform to learn about, discuss, and look for paths of action to benefit our planet came into being. In 1990, Earth Day went global with people of 147 nations participating. As time has gone by, the number of people and countries involved has increased. Read more about it on History.com.

Let’s face it; if we work to keep Mom Earth happy and healthy, ultimately it’s in our best interest too. For the foreseeable future, we don’t have any other place that supplies all the raw materials we need for life. So, it makes sense to take care of our current address.

Some ideas for Earth Day and every day:

Bring your own fabric shopping bags to the grocery store so you don’t need the plastic ones and cut down on plastic straws and bottles.

So much plastic ends up in our oceans, doing harm to all kinds of marine life in and out of the water. There’s a huge patch of marine debris in the Pacific Ocean, one in the Atlantic, and probably in other bodies of water too.

Plant some flora. Trees and plants clean the air during photosynthesis. They take in carbon dioxide and give off oxygen.

Be kind to our pollinators. Here’s some tips from the U. S. Natural Resources Conservation Service. Without our pollinators, a lot of our food goes away.

Combine errands to drive those internal-combustion engine vehicles less and buy that hybrid or electric car if you can.

Our old Prius still sips the petrol, giving us at least 44 miles to the gallon.

Do curbside recycling if it's available in your area. Some of those items, like glass, can be recycled over and over again.

Be frugal with water use. Don’t let it continually run when brushing your teeth, shaving, etc. Earth may be 71% or so water, but it’s mostly salt water which isn't suitable to drink in the quantities our bodies need. It's the magic of the Water Cycle that gives us the potable form.

Announcements during a big drought in New York, when I was a kid, taught me about conserving drinking water. Since then, I've always been mindful to turn off the taps if the water isn't running for a good reason.

Let’s be better children to our planetary mother. If we don’t treat her with respect, she may disown her ungrateful children, and then, what will we do?

Hopefully, the angry, vengeful planet story plots will remain only in fiction.

Happy Writing!