Q A &

BY PEGGY GISLER AND MARGE EBERTS

The Story Behind Earth Day

PARENTS: This year Earth Day falls on a Saturday. This day is celebrated annually on April 22 with events worldwide. Earth Day raises awareness for the environment and protection and care of our planet. The first Earth Day, on April 22, 1970, is considered the birthday of the modern environmental protection movement.

Earth Day was founded by Senator Gaylord Nelson to promote ecology and respect for life on the planet, as well as to encourage awareness of the growing problems of air, water and soil pollution. The first Earth Day celebrations took place at 2,000 colleges and universities, roughly 10,000 primary and secondary schools and hundreds of U.S. communities. However, today more than a billion people worldwide take part in activities on Earth Day in more than 193 nations. Some areas have Earth Day celebrations all week.

Each year the Earth Day theme is different. This year’s theme is “Protect Our Species.” It is designed to draw attention to the rapid extinction of species around the world.

Students are definitely learning at their schools what they can do to help protect our planet and reduce pollution. Why don’t you and your children join all the other people in celebrating this day by improving the environment in some way? Join one of the many Earth Day events in your community.

You could be part of a group working to improve city, state or national parks. Other groups clean up streams, plant gardens at schools and pick up street trash. It will be a great opportunity to have some allimportant family time, as Earth Day is on the weekend.

Here are some at-home ways your family can celebrate Earth Day. Whatever you elect to do will be hands-on learning about the environment for your children.

1. Take a walk in nature and simply appreciate it while stopping to pick up discarded bottles and recycling them.

2. Plant a tree for every member of your family. Tress remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Nearly a third of all Earth Day celebrants actually plant trees.

3. Build a compost pile. Find a section of your yard in a back corner and start putting all the leaves and grass cuttings from your yard in the pile. It will decompose, and you’ll be able to put it in the soil for other plants in your yard.

4. Make bird feeders. This can be done by collecting pine cones, dipping them in peanut butter or honey and covering them with birdseed.

5. Take a tech break and turn off all electronic devices to conserve electricity.

For over 75 years, Oakhill Day School has provided the Kansas City Northland with student-first academic offerings that fit every family's needs. Experience firsthand the variety of options that Oakhill can provide for your family. Whether you need an early childhood program for your child's first years of school, well-rounded K-8 academics, or flexibility for your busy high school student, we will help you find YOUR perfect fit.

As parents, it’s up to us to pass on valuable life lessons to our children. One of these lessons is to teach them to be green so that they will continue taking care of the Earth as they grow up. Planting the seeds in their minds at a young age makes it much more likely they will continue to live an eco-friendly lifestyle into adulthood. Take these steps to help your family grow a greener future.

Teach them young.

It’s never too early to start modeling a green lifestyle to your children. Children model what they see, so do your best to show them how to live in your everyday life. Teach them why it’s important to take care of our planet and show them that small actions add up to make a big difference. Many books can help you do this, including Thank You, Earth, Old Enough to Save the Planet and The Lorax

Plant a tree together.

Trees give us oxygen we need to breathe, store carbon, provide homes for wildlife and offer shade. Planting a family tree makes a fun memory for your children. I still have fond memories of planting a tree at my elementary school when I was in kindergarten. For information about buying the right tree for your space, learning how to plant a tree and taking care of a new tree, visit the Missouri Department of Conservation’s website at MDC.MO.gov.