CG Birthday: Celebrate Earth Day on April 22nd

April is not just our birthday month! It’s the month we celebrate our incredible home: The Planet Earth.

• What is the History of Earth Day?

  • April 22nd, 1970 was the very first Earth Day! Proposed in 1969 by Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson, Earth Day was celebrated all over the nation in a collaborated effort between grass roots groups and their local governments. Elementary schools did trash-pickup and anti-litter movements. Flowers were planted. People swept their streets. Mothers protested the pollution destroying their children’s air quality.

• Did it work?

  • By the end of 1970, the Nixon administration had established the Environmental Protection Agency and passed the Clean Air Act.

  • Environmental justice gained momentum in New York especially.

  • Activists increasingly emphasized “environmental racism,” or how toxins and lack of green spaces in poorer neighborhoods disproportionately affected communities of color.

  • In the 1980’s El Puente and WE ACT formed to oppose environmental hazards like sewage plants and other pollutants that contributed to health disparities, including high rates of asthma.

  • Many observers have invoked the threat of climate change and pollution during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some have pointed to falling pollution levels in cities, as certain industries are on hold and transportation has slowed.

• What can you do?

  • You can educate yourself:

    • Know what legislation is affecting the environment all the way from your backyard up

    • Be aware of how climate change is affecting the earth

    • Read Read Read! Read to your kids too!

    • Enchanting Science and Nature Books for Kids from Scrawl Books

      • Over and Under the Rainforest (Hardcover) By Kate Messner, Christopher Silas Neal

      • Can You Hear the Trees Talking?: Discovering the Hidden Life of the Forest (Hardcover) By Peter Wohlleben

      • I am the Wind (Hardcover) By Michael Karg, Sophie Diao (Illustrator)

      • Chase the Moon, Tiny Turtle: A Hatchling's Daring Race to the Sea (Hardcover) By Kelly Jordan, Sally Walker (Illustrator)

      • Baby Botanist (Baby Scientist #3) (Board book) By Dr. Laura Gehl, Daniel Wiseman (Illustrator)

      • Weird, Wild, Amazing!: Exploring the Incredible World of Animals (Hardcover) By Tim Flannery, Sam Caldwell (Illustrator)

      • Over and Under the Pond (Hardcover) By Kate Messner, Christopher Silas Neal (Illustrator)

      • Start Now!: You Can Make a Difference (Paperback) By Chelsea Clinton

      • Baby Oceanographer (Baby Scientist #1) (Board book) By Dr. Laura Gehl, Daniel Wiseman (Illustrator)

      • Volcano Wakes Up! (Paperback) By Lisa Westberg Peters, Steve Jenkins (Illustrator)

  • You can donate to non-profits that you trust to support concrete improvements. CHARITY NAVIGATOR is a pretty excellent place to check a non-profit’s rating.

    • Environmental Defense Fund

      Mission: The Environmental Defense Fund is perhaps the most wide-ranging organization on this list, working to provide solutions under the broad categories of climate change, oceans, wildlife and habitats, and health. The EDF works with other organizations, businesses, government, and communities to create incentives for positive environmental actions; help companies become better environmental stewards; influence policy; and keep tabs on emerging issues
      Top Programs: Climate and energy, oceans, ecosystems
      Percent of expenses spent on programs: 79.1
      Charity Navigator Score: 94.48

    • The Nature Conservancy

      Mission: The Nature Conservancy protects ecologically important lands and waters around the world with the help of more than 500 staff scientists.
      Top Programs: Climate change, fire, fresh water, forests, invasive species, and marine ecosystems
      Percent of expenses spent on programs: 71.2
      Charity Navigator Score: 84.35

    • Natural Resources Defense Council 

      Mission: The Natural Resources Defense Council seeks to protect the basics—air, land, and water—and to defend endangered natural places, with an eye toward how these long-term decisions affect humans. 
      Top Programs: Climate, land, wildlife, water, oceans, energy, food, sustainable communities
      Percent of expenses spent on programs: 83.6
      Charity Navigator Score: 96.35

    • American Rivers 

      Mission: American Rivers protects wild rivers, restores damaged rivers and the wildlife they support, and conserves clean water for people and nature, with an eye toward recreationists as well.
      Top Programs: River restoration, federal river management, clean water supply
      Percent of expenses spent on programs: 74.9
      Charity Navigator Score: 88.18

    • Sierra Club Foundation

      Mission: The Sierra Club Foundation is the fiscal sponsor of the Sierra Club’s charitable environmental programs, and promotes efforts to educate and empower people to protect and improve the natural and human environment. The Sierra Club is the principal, though not exclusive, recipient of SCF’s charitable grants. 
      Top Programs: Beyond Coal, Chapter and Group Education Project, Our Wild America
      Percent of expenses spent on programs: 88.5
      Charity Navigator Score: 94.08

• How you can celebrate at home

  • Animal Exercises to do at home with your kids ALL MONTH.

  • Stock up on reusable bags and try to go a month without using plastic ones!

  • Plant pollinator friendly local plants in your garden

  • Walk whenever you can or take public transportation (Keeping in mind Covid-19 precautions)

  • Use blankets or open windows rather than cranking up the Heater or AC

  • Pick up trash when you can! Even one piece can make a difference.

  • Watch Our Planet or Planet Earth to get your kids excited and curious about Earth

Remember everyone, we all share ONE COMMON GROUND. Our little blue planet is precious, and we have to take good care of it.

Love Love Love,

Your CG Family