Earth Day is today! To a lot of people, Earth Day is a day of service and appreciation for our natural surroundings, whether you live somewhere urban or rural, surrounded by buildings or by mountains. However, Earth Day also has some important historical significance that can sometimes be overlooked in a generation that, especially now, is raised to be green.
Historically, Earth Day is seen as the official birthday of the modern environmental movement of the 60’s and 70’s. Remember the hippies and the flower-child culture? We have this group of people to thank for the modern environmental movement that has seen a resurgence in the past few years. Much like the Earth Day we celebrate today, the original Earth Day is meant to raise public awareness and concern for all living organisms, the environment, and public health. The first Earth Day lead 20 million people outside to clean up their landscapes, and represented one of the only times when people all around America—Democrats and Republicans, rich and poor, rural and urban citizens, men and women, young and old—could rally around one common cause, unanimously.
Today, it’s hard to find anything that is not trying to be green or eco-friendly. There are movements around the country, and especially in a forward thinking city like Missoula, that are meant to get people outside and working towards making our environment greener and cleaner. However, with the challenges that we face as a country and an up and coming generation, from multiple wars to global climate change, Earth Day is almost more important than ever.
So, in a time when you can’t open a magazine without seeing something being advertised as green or eco-friendly, what else can a girl do to celebrate Earth Day?
1. Volunteer over the weekend to do river clean up. With the river going right by campus and through downtown Missoula, the banks of the Clark Fork tend to pick up a bunch of litter. By picking up the litter you can get outside, clean up our river, and make it look better for the tubing that will come this summer!
2. Earth Day is about more than just being green, it’s also about coming together as a community. Volunteering at the Poverello Center (http://www.thepoverellocenter.org/) or the Food Bank (http://www.missoulafoodbank.org/) is a good way to help out someone who really needs some extra help, and a good way to celebrate Earth Day and give back to our community.
3. Coming to the end of the semester, we are all running a little low on free time! So if you’re finding yourself short on time and energy, make a donation to a non-profit that is dedicated to improving our community, both socially and environmentally. Organizations in the community include the Jeanette Rankin Peace Center, All Against the Haul, or Women’s Voices for the Earth.