Protect Our Children This Earth Day -- Terra Wellington's Balanced Living

Look for an opportunity to ensure that children are
healthy, educated, and free from oppression.
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Originally Published April 22, 2005 -- Your Wellness Guide

Protect Our Children This Earth Day
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For how to live Earth Day everyday:
Make Your Own Oasis Through Earth Day Projects
Celebrate Earth Day Everyday
'Less Is More' Becomes New Way To Happiness

Today is Earth Day. For the past 35 years, millions have celebrated this day, each declaring in some way that it is important to protect our planet, our children, and the environment. This month, some will clean up a beach or park, others will make environmental statements or announcements, trees will be planted, and festivals will take place. All in an effort to educate and act.

This year, the official Earth Day founders have declared 2005’s theme as “Protect Our Children and Our Future.” The organizers say “Despite the extraordinary and often false obstacles that we face in our efforts to protect our natural resources and our biodiversity, few will dare argue with the moral imperative to protect our children from harm. As a consequence of that imperative, we call on governments, corporations, faith-based organizations, and all people in our troubled world to work with us to ensure that children everywhere are healthy, educated, and free from oppression.”

Most of us would not have thought about Earth Day this way because, for many, Earth Day has become equated with tree plantings and joyous festivals. But, “the first Earth Day,” says Kathleen Rogers, president of Earth Day Network, “people came together from all walks of life to demand a cleaner, healthier and safer world for themselves and their children. While progress has been made, many of those problems still exist, especially among children, the poor and other vulnerable populations. On this important anniversary we are bringing people together to focus on those environmental concerns that threaten the environment our children are growing up in.”

Photo Coutresy: Alice Ferguson Foundation

Maryland officials, Governor Robert Erlich
and Congressman Steny Hoyer, pitch in to
clean up the Potomac River.

In a search of 5761 posted Earth Day activities at www.earthday.net, however, I found very few listings directly pertaining to this year’s theme. On average, only one out of every 100 listings had a clear direction matching or benefitting the 2005 children’s theme. That is barely one percent. Disappointing.

While largely relevant and perhaps useful, most of the event listings were tired, uncreative choices largely relating to corporate beneficiaries, marketing campaigns, entertainment festivals, and fundraisers -- such as recycling revivals, beach clean ups, wildlife show-and-tells, battery roundups, tire amnesties, hybrid car displays, beautification projects, and more recycling. One festival even listed belly dancers and folk dancers as the major draw.

Then again, congratulations to the citizens of Luray, Virginia. Today they will conduct a panel discussion about air pollution’s effect on children with asthma and other respiratory illnesses. Action groups will be formed to strategize what can be done in the community to help the children.

Kudos to Whole Foods in Atlanta, Georgia, which held a “5% Day at Whole Foods Market” on April 20. Five percent of all sales that day were to be donated to the Inman Park Cooperative Pre-Schools Outdoor Classroom and Environmental Education Initiative. The Outdoor Classroom is being developed to help children foster an awareness of their place in the ecological spectrum, build an organic greenspace, promote confidence regarding the outdoors, and to create a certified wildlife habitat where the children can learn, play and thrive.

And several other events were listed that clearly related to protecting our children and our future, such as the “Chevy Chase Recreational Center Potomac Watershed Cleanup” organized by the Alice Ferguson Foundation in the District of Columbia. This month, more than 3,500 volunteers at 166 sites hauled away 162 tons of trash that had accumulated in and along the Potomac River, a main source of drinking water for the Washington area -- including its children.

As you consider how you will participate in this year’s Earth Day, challenge yourself to find an event or cause that will not only match the 2005 theme but also tackle a real problem and take action toward finding a solution.

You can find a local event listing at www.earthday.net, www.kab.org, or www.pointsoflight.org.

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