Today is April 22nd, the 39th anniversary of Earth Day. How did I know that? My younger son told me on the way home from school yesterday.

He was telling me all the things their class and the Reed School in Tiburon will do today in observance of this day. He informed me that I must turn off all our lights, electronics, gas stoves, etc. for just one minute tonight. He said, “Mom – imagine if all the people around the world would do that for just one minute. And, WHAT ELSE can we do today to help our earth?”

I proudly told him all the things we are already doing as a family – recycling, driving a hybrid Prius (which I traded in a year ago for my gas-guzzling Range Rover), buying organic, conserving energy and water whenever we can, etc, etc…. “But, mom, WHAT ELSE can we do today?” he interrupted. So, I promised to change all the light bulbs out in our home to more energy efficient ones. I’ve been meaning to do so anyway, but now it has to be on top of my list.

Of course, I’ve heard of Earth Day before, but I never remembered what day it was or what exactly we were supposed to do on this day. So, I Googled it. To my surprise, this day was created in 1970 – almost 40 years ago!

I know here in Marin many people and organizations have been environmentally conscious for quite some. I also have been thinking green for a while, but not really acting green until more recently. It really hit home about a year ago, when I realized how much I was polluting by driving my Range Rover – open house tours, showing property, taking clients out to see homes, school drop offs, pick ups, grocery runs, etc… I was spending $100 or more a week on gas and burning up so much gas!

So, what will YOU do today? If you haven’t started being kinder to the earth, maybe today is a good start! For more information on Earth Day, check out the Earth Day Network at www.earthday.net. You may also want to attend some of the Earth Day events happening throughout Marin County over the weekend. Click here for other Bay Are events.


Posted By: Judy Noyes