Are you celebrating Earth Day, April 22, with your family?
The first Earth Day was held April 22, 1970, and is widely considered the beginning of the environmental movement; it’s estimated that this year about 1 billion people worldwide will celebrate the event.
So what can your family do to mark the occasion?
1. Shop: plan your trip to save fuel, use reusable bags, purchase items that contain recycled materials when possible, and buy local.
2. Begin a compost pile using kitchen and garden scraps. Click here for more information on composting.
3. Volunteer for a local cause. Example: DuPage County Forest Preserve. Click here for information about volunteering in their facilities.
4. Go on a green picnic: pack your food in reusable containers, go on a hike or a bird-watching excursion.
5. Plant a tree.
6. Organize a clean-up day at your school.
7. Clean up litter at a local park.
8. Cook a meal in honor of Earth Day that features organic foods that are bought locally.
9. Walk or bike instead of driving somewhere.
10. Have a garage sale to recycle and reuse items you don’t need any more.
11. Finger paint with mud on the sidewalks.
12. Play an Earth Day game (ideas courtesy of Mother Nature Network, http://www.mnn.com):
- Recycle Relay: Set up three or four containers at one end of the room or yard, labeled with different types of recycling (i.e. one container labeled “Paper,” one labeled “Plastic” and one labeled “Aluminum”). At the other end are two piles, each with the same number of objects that need to be recycled. Players form teams and line up behind the recyclable piles. At the start, each player picks something from his/her pile and runs it up to deposit in the proper bin. Instead of a race, you could set a timer and have players “beat the clock.”
- Earth Obstacle Course: Set up an obstacle course outside that includes various activities that help the planet. Ideas include sorting recyclables into proper bins, then running to another station to toss earth beach balls into trash cans, then another station at which players have to dig through compost to find a (fake or real) worm, then another to water plants. Players can race against each other or be timed to see who can get through it the fastest.
- Earth Day Ball Toss: Online, you can find several manufacturers of earth-printed inflatable and other balls, and use them to play many games you would traditionally play with regular balls. Or, to add an Earth Day twist to, say, a game of catch or dodge ball, have the person who catches the ball or gets tagged say something they love about the earth.
If you have ideas for celebrating Earth Day, please let me know what they are. And I’d love to see pictures of your family’s celebration – we might even post them on our Facebook page.
So, Happy Earth Day 2013!
Warrenville Park District
