Originally published in Southern Seasons Late Spring 2013
Spring is here! On April 22, we’ll all get together to celebrate the 44th Earth Day.
Earth Day started as a movement, a series of protests and demonstrations across the nation in 1970. The efforts of Earth Day organizers have helped bring the environment to the forefront of American life, and now, the annual event keeps us talking about the life-saving changes we need to make to keep ourselves and future generations healthy.
The ancient Greeks celebrated spring as the return of the goddess Demeter’s daughter, and that image serves as a reminder of how integral protecting our environment is to protecting our children. Earth Day is a great opportunity not only to take a stand against the egregious chemicals we are exposing our children to, but also, to teach kids about the environment, so they can become responsible stewards.
According to a study by the Environmental Protection Agency, Americans spend 90 percent of their time indoors. And children spend 8-10 hours every day in front of some type of screen.
In 2013, we should all try to get our kids outdoors more. Kids spend so much time indoors playing videos games, but research shows that interaction with the natural environment plays an important role in children’s development, including building problem solving and critical thinking skills, as well as fostering creativity. I call on all adults to take kids hiking and camping or go just plain encourage them to spend unstructured time outdoors. Go! Explore!
Several of the Earth Day events around Atlanta have kid-friendly activities, with many ways to get the kids out into nature.
The Captain Planet Foundation and the Chattahoochee Nature Center in Roswell have teamed up again for the 11th annual Earth Day Kids Fest. The Kids Fest is scheduled for April 13th at the Nature Center. The event will have music, games, arts and crafts exhibits, and of course Captain Planet, the world’s only eco-superhero, will be hanging out. I always have a wonderful time at this event, and it’s a fun way to get the kids outside and interacting with animals and nature. The day will offer a fantastic array of “edutainment” to engage and entertain families. Laughing Pizza will bring their power packed musical performance on stage. And things will get a little wild with live native animal presentations by CNC! You’ll always enjoy the face painting and canoe paddling on the pond, but don’t be surprised to see some new famous faces. A green Eco-Village marketplace will provide guests a place to peruse an array of earth-friendly household goods and ideas to green both homes and businesses.
If you are looking to have fun and support a good cause, I recommend the 19thAnnual Hoochie event supporting the Nature Conservancy of Georgia held at the Tophat Fields in Buckhead. The Hoochie has raised more than $3 million for conservation in Georgia. The casual evening features gourmet cuisine, live music, nature-related exhibits and a silent auction.
This event is a fun way to help an organization that works hard all across the state to preserve some 317,000 acres, care for our rivers, and protect our coast. For more information about the Nature Conservancy, visit their website, here: http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/regions/northamerica/unitedstates/georgia/index.htm
There are other really active, fun ways to get the kids involved and do a little honest work on your own, too. Trees Atlanta (treesatlanta.org) organizes neighborhood tree plantings all over the city. The organization is also working to build the Atlanta BeltLine Arboretum, a live, growing, free green museum that will run along all 22 miles of the BeltLine.
If you’d rather spend a day splashing around, Chattahoochee Riverkeeper is hosting the third annual Sweep the Hooch, a volunteer opportunity to clean up tons of mostly plastic and other trash from inside the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area. At last year’s event, volunteers collected 3.21 tons of materials. This year, the event will be held on April 13.
And EarthShare of Georgia has several great events planned, including the Earth Day Leadership Breakfast on April 19 at the Georgia Aquarium. This event brings together business and environmental leaders to focus on ways to improve our community.
But really, Earth Day is just one day out of the year. It’s important to recognize the importance of making Earth Day every day and protect and restore the ecosystems that are our life support—our water, air, land, food and biodiversity.
I challenge you to grow a chemical-free yard in 2013. Most of the time, if you’re following the elemental rules of gardening basics, you won’t need to expose yourself, your family, and the Earth to all the chemicals out there that claim the grass will be greener on their side.
Paul Tukey, whose organization SafeLawns.org works to combat the use of synthetic chemicals in lawn and garden care, has some great recommendations for getting a green landscape without using the egregious chemicals and fertilizers that can have a negative impact on our aquatic systems and the critters that share our yards. Don’t forget that our children and pets play in those yards, too, and exposing them to these chemicals can have unintended long-term effects.
One easy lawn saver is to leave the clippings behind after you mow, a process known as grasscycling. The clippings disappear into your lawn in a day or two, and it provides half your lawn’s fertilizer needs for the season.
Another idea is to leave the clover in your yard. Clover is the favorite flowers of bees. I actually seed my yard with two types of clover, because I keep a beehive and want to make sure they have enough pesticide-free food. Plus, my family and I love clover honey!
One out of every three bites of food from your dinner plate was made possible by the pollination of honeybees. Some crops, such as almonds, are 100% dependent on honeybees to produce. These insects are an essential part of the systems that produce our food, but they’re threatened the world over. To learn more about this crisis, please visit Help the Honey Bees (http://www.helpthehoneybees.com/), The Pollinator Partnership (http://www.pollinator.org/), or the Xerces Society (http://www.xerces.org/pollinator-conservation/).
Clover also puts vital nitrogen back into your soil, keeping your whole yard healthy, lush and green. And it softens the hard grass, making it more comfortable on bare feet.
As the flowers blossom and birds sing, celebrate this beautiful planet by attending events, getting your children out into nature, and growing your own flowers and foods. And as you’re celebrating, join my family and me in making a promise to do all you can to protect our God given Garden of Eden – and our children’s health.
Celebrate Earth Day in Georgia
Here are my recommendations for Earth Day events around the state.
- Chattahoochee Riverkeeper’s third annual Sweep the Hooch event on April 13 places volunteers at 21 sites along a 48-mile stretch inside the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area to help clean up the trash that collects in our life-giving river. http://www.ucriverkeeper.org/sweep-the-hooch.php
- Earth Day Kids Fest on April 13, sponsored by the Captain Planet Foundation and Chattahoochee Nature Center, is a kids-centered day of fun and service with music, food and games. www.captainplanetfoundation.org
- EarthShare of Georgia has several events planned around EarthDay. This organization raises funds through employee giving for more than 60 environmental member organizations dedicated to conserving and protecting our air, land and water.The Corporate Green Day Challenge on Saturday, April 6 provides volunteer opportunities for employees of Earth Day event sponsors at specially selected environmental improvement project sites across Metro Atlanta and beyond. The Earth Day Leadership Breakfast on Friday, April 19, will be held at the Georgia Aquarium with keynote speaker Bea Perez, Corporate Sustainability Officer for The Coca-Cola Company. The Earth Day Party on Thursday, April 25, is a celebration that includes food, music and an Eco-silent auction. This event will be held at the King Plow Arts Center, a renovated historic building, once home to the King Plow Company. (earthsharega.org)
- The 19th Annual Hoochie, on April 19, is a casual event with games, entertainment, and eco-friendly cuisine. It’s one of the most anticipated environmental events of the year and I highly recommend it!http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/regions/northamerica/unitedstates/georgia/19th-annual-hoochie.xml
