Earth Day 2018
Whilst some of you may have woken up to the excitement that it’s World Jelly Bean Day today, others of us are marking what should be, one of the biggest dates in the calendar: Earth Day.
Earth Day is here to remind us why it is we exist, because quite simply, without the many intricacies of our brilliant and beautiful planet, its ecosystems and its buried secrets, none of us would be here. We’ve filtered our lives with so much manmade stuff: from cars to roads, computers to buildings, it’s easy to forget the quiet monster that lurks beneath.
It’s also a day of political action and citizen participation in creating a call for action to tackle some of the greatest threats to the sustainability of our beloved planet. I like to think that if you’re reading the Bright Green Blog, you’re the type of person who takes part in a variety of such activities throughout the year and not just on one day. Whether it’s a 2-minute beach clean (go visit #2minutebeachclean to find out about their work), buying less packaged food (take a look at this new plastic-free supermarket aisle in the Netherlands) or cutting down on animal products (demand for vegan and vegetarian foods increased by 987% in 2017!) It’s all part of doing our bit for the planet.
Bright Green Enterprise continues to educate thousands of young people each year about planet earth. It’s not all shouting about the bad stuff either, there’s plenty to tell about the wonderful stories earth has to offer. Did you hear the one about the lion and the toothpaste? The one about the Maasai village and the 1945 broken water pipe which they’re named after? The one about the brilliant innovation of light from the Philippines that’s supporting thousands of people in poverty? All of these stories are told within BGE programmes and it’s through these that young people learn about the planet, its strengths and its weaknesses when up against the development of mankind.
Earth Day is not just a chance for us to shout louder to politicians and our neighbours. It should be a reminder for us to slow down and listen more closely to that beleaguered monster beneath our feet.
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