Celebrating Earth Day with an Earth Dinner

It's traditional to consider a dinner celebration an integral part of most holidays. What would Thanksgiving be without a turkey dinner or Easter without a meal with friends and family? Even 4th of July usually includes a barbeque in the backyard to help celebrate the country's independence. So it is fitting that a new tradition is beginning to take hold: enjoying an Earth Dinner on April 22, the national day of celebration for Earth Day. Earth Day is usually held on the spring equinox, and the day became a national holiday on April 22, 1970 with an act of Congress. This is a holiday designed to celebrate the earth and all its gifts, something we all take too much for granted. It was born of a grassroots movement, a leftover from the 1960s if you will, a desire to recognize that caring for the earth is as important as championing civil rights or advancing the cause of equality for women. Earth Day continues to be celebrated--perhaps more so this year as important concerns about global warming come to the fore, and people begin to recognize the shared responsibility for reversing those negative trends on the environment.