EVERY DAY SHOULD BE EARTH DAY

Today, April 22, 2008 marks the official Earth Day for 2008. I feel it is a travesty that only one day a year is set aside to celebrate the world's greatest asset. I don't claim to be an environmentalist or other radical "save the world" person. I do however, believe that it is everyone's responsibility to care for our world the way God intended when he first created earth. If each person does just one thing to help maintain or improve the habitat we all share, it will make a huge difference globally.

Since Earth Day's inception in 1970 Earth Day has grown at a slow pace. Only a slight number of people worldwide celebrated the beauty of the earth in the 1970's. Today, over 1,000,000,000 participate in various activities worldwide to help improve the environments quality of life.

There are many opportunities for each one of us to contribute in small to large scale ways. One of the simplest of all is to plant a tree. Tree's help the environment by creating oxygen and by reducing the amount of green house gas that escapes into the air, thereby reducing global warmth. It is easy to see what one task can achieve.

Recent estimates from the EPA claim that 75% of what Americans throw in the trash could be recycled. However, only 25% actually is recycled. If we, as Americans alone, could increase our recycling statistics to 35%, instead of 25%, that would reduce emissions as much as if we took 36 million cars off the roads. So, if each of us recycled 10% more than we do now, the improvement to our environment would be staggering.

To save these Southern Arizona flowers everyone needs to take a stand to protect the environment in which they live.

Credit: Cindi Starr

Copyright: Cindi Starr