Apr. 23, 2009
Earth Day - Yesterday
Earth Day For the past two years I have hosted an Earth Day celebration for our small homeschool group. This year we went to a local park for it. While the turnout was small, the kids had a great time and soaked up the information. One of the boys is excited to go home and build a compost pile. They also asked a lot of questions about recycling and we talked a lot about reducing and making wise choices at the store. I introduced them to many items that are good choices such as 100% recycled aluminum foil, 100% recycled paper clips, 100% organic cotton t-shirts, and reusable grocery bags made from used sheets and upholstery scraps.
Our service for the day was to clean up trash at the park. We collected six kitchen garbage bags full of trash. They had a blast, especially when they found things like - a pair of pants, a huge smashed plastic cone, a baseball and football (which they kept), and lots of other "cool" things. We talked about what they found and felt while doing the pick-up. They mostly were very unhappy about litterbugs and felt that there should be a law against it. They were surprised to learn that there is a law AND fine against it. They also were saddened by people's lack of care for the earth. We have decided that we are adopting that park and we will meet once a month to clean up trash there. They were very excited about that.
While on our trash pick-up we also found an almost dead snake. That of course made everyone's day.
It is an Eastern Yellow Bellied Racer
It is an Eastern Yellow Bellied RacerWe made suncatchers out of old CD's to hang in their windows. They had fun doing that too.
To top it off they all got to win prized by answering some trivia about the environment and what we can do to help take care of it. They all left with a reusable shopping bag and an earth friendly prize.
We talked alot about recycling also. We talked about what our trash is made up of. I made a pizza pie chart to give them a visual of what part of the trash is made up of what materials. It was surprising to see that plastic made up a smaller portion than we thought and that paper was the most abundant trash.
I showed them that almost everything can be recycled if you do your homework and find programs to take the items. I recently found a program to recycle empty elmers glue bottles and glue sticks. We will be participating in this program and I will alos be trying to get our church preschool to participate. You can find out more about it here. You can also recyle and get paid for things like juice pouches, 100 calorie snack packs, yogurt containers, etc at this location. Recycle all those old, broken crayons at this site. Or use them to color your homemade candles.
I showed them that almost everything can be recycled if you do your homework and find programs to take the items. I recently found a program to recycle empty elmers glue bottles and glue sticks. We will be participating in this program and I will alos be trying to get our church preschool to participate. You can find out more about it here. You can also recyle and get paid for things like juice pouches, 100 calorie snack packs, yogurt containers, etc at this location. Recycle all those old, broken crayons at this site. Or use them to color your homemade candles.
Whether you believe in global warming or not, is your choice. But, caring for the earth that God gave is is not a choice. It is an obligation we have because God gave us dominion over the earth and all the creatures in it. We can not ignore that fact. That obligation calls us to be good stewards of the earth, its resources, and our financial resources as well.
Whatever your position, I hope you take a moment to think about the information here and make a resolution to change something in your life that will make a positive impact on our environment. It doesn't have to be big, just something doable.
Be the change you wish to see in the world.