Thursday 22 April 2010

Earth Day

It's Earth Day tomorrow. Earth Day began in the USA in 1970 but has spread across the world since then. The Earth Day Network is the co-ordinating body and works to inspire civil engagement and mobilise communities, to inspire holistic thinking around the environment, to implement groundbreaking environmental education programmes and to help bring clean water and sanitation to people still without these services. To find out how to get involved, visit their Get Active pages.

If you're a crafter one of the ways you can help the earth is by upcycling waste materials into useful or attractive objects. Makezine and CRAFT have teamed up to run the Save My Oceans Upcycle Craft competition for crafts made from upcycled plastics. You can read about it and join in here.

Crafters are also joining together in April is Stashbusting Month where we are commiting to using only materials in our stashes. Of course for a lot of people their stashes include a lot of material that they originally bought new, but even then it does cut down significantly on buying new materials that then just sit around for ages. Everything in my stash is second hand, or reclaimed from old clothes / jewellery / magazines etc.

Angela Recada has posted about Earth Day and Stuff, you can read her post here.
Michelle at Rambling Woods has also posted about Earth Day here.

History.com also has some resources on Earth Day, which they asked me to share with readers of this blog, you can find them here.

How are you going to mark Earth Day?

14 comments:

Forthvalley scribe said...

Thanks for this, Juliet. I will put a link to the web-site on Lúcháir - too late for this year, but it will remind me for next!

Cathy said...

Thanks for these links Juliet. I think Earth Day is brilliant in bringing recycling and good environmental practice to our notice. We are going to look into much more careful organisation of our household waste disposal ie. plastic bottles and aluminium to go into the correct receptacles at the depot instead of into the usual black bin. I am also going to go through my stashes of things to see what I can recycle. Of course I am one of the country's best charity shop recyclers...haha.

I have posted off your parcel today so I hope it reaches you safely.

angela recada said...

Happy Earth Day to you! Thanks for this brilliant post, and for the link.

Gillena Cox said...

Happy Earth day

much love
gillena

Hannah Stephenson said...

Thanks for all the resources! I've especially enjoyed your poems lately.

Kay said...

happy Earth day! I was planning to attend activities today in the city but am home with a chest cold..bummer! Had snow last night..Mother Nature playing games with us here in Utah..but if it warms up I will go out and get some of her good sunshine! I decided for earth day to rescue a rooster and a hen and start having my own free range eggs...been a long time since I had a flock of cluckers. A little something I could do..Our little acre is an oasis in suburbia for wildlife. I leave brush piles for the quail, and trees for the many bird varieties and old apple trees feed the "varmints"! No pesticides or chemicals here! I admit to planting carrots for the bunnies and sunflowers for the birds!

PurestGreen said...

Many years ago on earth day a friend and I walked 9 miles into our rural highschool along the highway. We left at dawn and got there just in time for school. It was a long but wonderful walk, seeing the world before the traffic took over.

:)

Titus said...

We will undoubtedly be making rocket ships from toilet tubes and yoghurt pots, still working on the self-cooling hat (best not to ask) and clearing litter from the hedgerows and verges closest to us (my personal bete noire).
Plus the network of mothers I mingle/meet/munch with all pass on children's clothes between each other: some sturdy items have been through six or seven users!
Thanks for the links too.

Crafty Green Poet said...

Elizabeth - excellent idea!

Cathy - I look forward to receiving the parcel! We're lucky here with our household recycling as there are bins for plastics and packaging and paper just outside the front door and the glass is only just across the road.... I'm a great charity shop recycler too!

Gillena, Angela, thanks

Thestorialist - I've been enjoying your poetry too!

Kay we had snow a couple of days ago too! How nice to start keeping free range chickens! Your oasis sounds wonderful!

Purest green - a long early morning walk can be such a wonderful experience!

eileeninmd said...

Great post and thanks for the information and links.

Christina said...

I will plant something native to Oklahoma and mulch with bun poop.

NicoleB, Egypt said...

I didn't know Earth day existed already since the 70ties.
Thanks for all the Info & Cheers from South Sinai :)

Rambling Woods said...

i wish i was crafty as i would love to do 'upcycling'. splendid idea. Michelle

agreenearth said...

Thanks for the share. All great sources of inspiration as is your site.