Honor Earth

While it may sound trite or cliché, or more than anything blatantly obvious, the reality is we only have one planet and we do need to take care of it.

It was with this in mind that Earth Day first started.

First celebrated in 1970, Earth Day events now take place all over the world.

What started as a grassroots effort to raise awareness about environmental issues has grown to be an annual event recognized in more than 193 countries every April 22.

Local, nationally and globally issues such as climate change and pollution are often explored on Earth Day.

But this is also a time when people will explore issues such as renewable energy or even get a jump on Arbor Day and plant trees are take part in other green initiatives.

While it is certainly important to have a time like Earth Day set aside to bring these issues to the forefront, the reality is these are issues we all can and need to be cognizant of regardless of the date on the calendar.

While April 22 may be the one day that helps many of us to stop and consider the health of our planet, environment and communities, the concept is one that extends well beyond one day.

Almanac.com shared a number of things we can all do regardless of the date to help protect and support our planet.

Some actions are easy efforts all of us can take to help.

For example almanac.com suggests to clean up plastics in our neighborhoods and parks.

Something as simple as going for a walk and taking a trash bag and picking up plastics and other refuse can make a big difference.

Making the effort to collect things like plastics that can be recycled can have a positive impact on the environment.

The website also suggest considering the household products, particularly for cooking and cleaning, we use.

Making a change from some products to ones that are biodegradable or that can be composted or are made from recycled materials such as parchment paper, aluminum foil and using vegetable based inks can go a long way toward making a difference.

Perhaps one thing many people immediately think about when the consider Earth Day is trees.

And of course planting trees can have an incredibly positive impact on the environment.

Trees capture carbon, help cool temperatures around our homes and have benefits for agriculture, pollinators and the local ecosystem.

According to almanac.com, planting one oak tree can bring more birds and insects, boosting the local ecosystem, than an entire yard of other plants.

Along a similar line, planting wildflowers and native plants also have a positive impact.

Wildflowers and native plants, according to almanac.com, not only offer beauty, but they naturally attract native species of birds and insects, which improve pest control as well as pollination.

And there is a phrase many of us are familiar with, reduce, reuse and recycle, that has become a well known idiom.

This can take the form of using reusable shopping bags when you go to the grocery store, buying things like top soil in bulk, which cuts down on packaging as well as transportation and consider using biodegradable pots for plants. These can even be placed right in the ground when planting.

These are of course just a few suggestions and there are many things we can all do in our daily lives to help have a positive effect on our planet.

We are fortunate locally to have access to many natural resources, lakes, woods, trails and wildlife.

By protecting these precious resources, by taking even small steps such as recycling or taking part in community cleanups, we can make every day Earth Day.

For more suggestions visit almanac. com.

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