An Organized Observance of Earth Day

Earth Day is this Friday, April 22, and with it comes an opportunity to shed light on the importance of conservation, recycling, sustainability, and related efforts around the globe. Environmental service campaigns are cropping up on a local, national, and global level, and you can easily share your organization skills and global love in your neighborhood and beyond. During a recent online search for “Earth Day 2011,” I retrieved more than 27,800,000 results linking me to initiatives and activities in support of Earth Day. So how to decide where to put your efforts and how you want to get involved this year?

1. Decide whether you want to focus on nearby community initiatives, national efforts, international activities – or some combination thereof.

2. Identify the areas where you most want to improve or learn. Feel like you have recycling under control but don’t know where to begin with composting? Or feel like you know a lot about your carbon footprint but want to better understand sustainability practices embraced by Fortune 500 companies?

3. Interested in getting your kids, neighbors, friends, and family involved? Or want to go solo this year?

Once you have a good understanding of what would most appeal to you and how you most wish to expand your horizons this Earth Day, narrow your search to your interest areas and let the Earth Day fun begin!

After you complete your Earth Day service activities, consider serving  friends or family “Dirt and Worms” in clean miniature clay planters. (You may know this dessert as chocolate pudding mixed with Oreo crumbles and whipped cream — topped with gummy worms, more Oreo crumbles, and a sprig of mint).

* Photo by Horton Group