7 Ways to Say Thank You to the Earth
Happy Earth Day! What are you doing to celebrate Earth Day? Maybe you’re planting a flower or a tree. Or going with a group of friends to help clean up your local park. Author of Thank You, Earth, April Pulley Sayre offers a few thoughtful ways to send a thank you when you don’t have an address.
· Turn a thank you into action
Sometimes a gesture is all you need. When you go out to eat at a restaurant, tell your waiter that you don’t need a straw. Did you know that hundreds of millions of straws are tossed away every day — after one use? Think about how many straws that is a week, a month, a whole year! They start to fill landfills and endanger ocean life like birds, sea turtles, dolphins, and whales as a result of pollution. The same can be said for balloons during parties and celebrations. Forgo them! Especially when you find out that loose balloons often drift away and become trash in bodies of water, making a mess and killing animals.
· Investigate the facts
Do some critical thinking! Ask yourself questions like where your drinking water comes from or why the air is cleaner on one day or another. Have you ever wondered why some days might be unnaturally warm or cold — or when it rains, where does the water go? How does your water and electricity run? Is it manmade? Is it nuclear energy or do you operate with solar panels? Where does your garbage go when you throw it away? Do you recycle plastic bottles and cardboard boxes? Sometimes asking these questions aloud can give you the chance to really think about how you can treat the Earth a little better.
· Share the story
Don’t keep these things to yourself! The only way to cause change is to share it with others — your family, friends, your teachers, and your classmates. Be creative! Write a story or make some posters! You can even tell a story with photographs. No matter what you do, inspiring others to consciously think about Earth is always a plus!
· Participate
Just go out and do stuff! Plan a day where you and your friends help plant a tree or cleanup the local river. Learn about the wildlife around you and build a garden to help support the wildlife. Hop onto the computer or go to your local library to find out about the plants that help feed and shelter birds, butterflies, and other creatures. You may not realize it, but all these creatures help us and the Earth.
· Be an inventor
When you’re at home — what do you think you and your family can do to conserve resources like water, paper, or other valuable resources? When you conserve resources, it means more material for other living creatures!
· Help the helpers
You might feel like you can do more to help the environment — that there are more problems outside of your house and your neighborhood. Sometimes, Earth needs more help from professionals like scientists. Research about organizations that dedicate their time and energy to solving problems plaguing Earth beyond your barriers. Raise funds to help them do more research and get to more places to help. Write them thank-you notes to encourage them to keep going! Write to your government officials to get them to help, too.
· Ask for action
Sit down and write out a letter to government officials and organizations/companies to let them know that you care about Earth and want to help. Encourage them to take action, especially about issues that they might not know about. And send a thank you when they do help.
