Earth Day Call to Action

How to sustain the spirit of Earth Day throughout the year? This is the concern of students at a local College in San Jose, California.

Alvarado feels that Earth Day should be advertised more so people can get educated on what it is about and what kind of things can be done to help. He feels that everyday should be Earth Day. He plans to educate the people around him such as his mother, girlfriend and others about what they can do to help. He is hopeful that some of the actions we take on Earth Day will become everyday habits.

Nancy has learned from her sisters to go green everyday, not just on April 22. Her older sister is an environmentalist and her younger sister is a marine biologist. She avoids using plastic bags and unplugs home appliances like the microwave when not in use. "I have learned that little things make a big difference, so I will instill this idea in my little daughter."

Hameed has planned a family gathering to emphasize the importance of conservation in all aspect of his and his family’s lives. In the long run, he feels that children will educate their parents on how to preserve the earth’s environment.

Yvette is part of the Earth Day committee promoting awareness at O'Connor Hospital where she works. She and her group emphasize recycling and going green every day. She will be giving away reusable shopping bags and other Earth Day tokens. She has made a poster of all the things that the departments are doing, for example, saving two cases of paper for board meetings by going digital. Instead of printing graphs for meetings, she makes PowerPoint presentations. She and her colleagues use scratch paper for notes, always print double-sided and makes sure that there are recycle bins on every floor.

For Garcia, Earth Day is a reminder of how contaminated the earth has become because of all the chemicals and the pesticides and man-made pollutions. “Too many people never bother to recycle. They can begin by taking shorter showers. There are many ways to help this beautiful planet. I recycle all the time. I collect cans, bottles and paper and give them to my mom so she can sell them.”

On Earth Day, Rafael plans to do three things. First, he will email all his friends to remind them to recycle every opportunity they get. Second, he plans to buy a bicycle so that he can reduce his carbon footprint by using his car as little as possible. Third, he will pledge some money to a conservation group to help in their efforts “to save our beautiful planet.”

Sindi helps the environment by carpooling five days a week with two other people from work. This helps with gas and parking fees. She and her friends have been doing this for almost four years now and it has worked out great for all of them.

Jessica likes to think Green everyday. She knows that we are ruining our planet but that it is also up to us to save it. She talks to her son about the environment and the little things he can also do to help. She uses cloth bags, reusable drink bottles and bigger home appliances after 7 P.M. But she feels that she can do more as a mother. With her son, she picks a day to use only the bike. That way they both get exercise and get some quality time together. "We also pick a night when we don't use electricity but only candles. My son loves this because he gets to light the candles."

Josephina is happy that there is a day called Earth Day dedicated to celebrating our planet. “I love to learn new ways to become more earth-friendly and learn more about the issues that can be harmful to the planet and can be particularly hazardous to me or my family, including my future family,” she says. “Currently I have no children but it is nice to know that we are taking steps to help them grow up in a clean environment.” Josephina has started to recycle more. “I used to recycle only cans; now I recycle glass, paper and everything else worth recycling. I have also recently bought a bike and have made the commitment to ride it to school at least once a week, weather permitting. I also try to buy food from local farms and farmers’ markets. I do other little things like turning off lights when not in use and not waste water by leaving it running unnecessarily.”