EARTH Day is on Tuesday next week, April 22, and what better way to celebrate it than with the planet’s future guardians, our children? Cutting across religion and race, the universal celebration is a good time to raise our children’s awareness about the earth they’re living in and how they can be nurturing keepers of its resources. v In the 1960s, when young Americans were protesting against the old morals and convictions of its elders, including the Vietnam War, Sen. Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin was bothered by the fact that the environment was being treated like a nonissue despite the growing pollution problems, the deforestation, and the dwindling of a lot of flora and fauna. Senator Nelson brought his concern to then-Attorney General Robert Kennedy and, in turn, President John F. Kennedy went on a five-day national conservation tour. That initial tour became the foundation of what would later be known as Earth Day.

Even before the likes of former US Vice President Al Gore spoke of the dangers of global warming in the new millennium, Senator Nelson was already talking about environmental issues in the ’60s on campuses. Inspired by the teach-ins and protest movement against the war in Vietnam at the time, he thought of organizing a day of protest against the ongoing devastation of the planet’s natural resources. In 1970 the first Earth Day celebration thus happened and with overwhelming response. In 1995 Senator Nelson was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Bill Clinton. The honor earned for the good senator the moniker “Earth Day father.”   

And more than 30 years later, the celebration continues to be a very timely global affair.

Think globally, act locally

REALLY, it doesn’t take much to create meaningful rituals to celebrate Earth Day. Some activities you may want to do with your children include:

n Get close to nature. Appreciate lush greens right in your own garden by having an Earth Day breakfast. Celebrate by having the first meal of the day right in your own outdoor space and talk about how important plants are, and how they make up the eco system. Don’t forget to feed the greens as well by letting your kids water them.

If you’ve got time, schedule a visit to a park or a zoo. Now’s a great time to check out the Manila Ocean Park to appreciate the importance of marine life as well.

§          Recycle, reuse. Get crafty and do some art time together. Bring out your inner Martha Stewart by doing simple projects like making handmade paper from recycled pulp; making a funky bag from old clothes; or painting on used jars and bottles to turn them into pretty vases. Any artsy ritual gets children’s creative energies going, and teaches them the value of preserving things, instead of readily junking them and contributing to teeming landfills.

§          Clean up and conserve. Better if you can get other parents and kids from the neighborhood to do a cleanup drive on Earth Day. Simple things like picking up the trash on the streets, sweeping leaves off the ground, and proper garbage segregation already mean a lot in keeping a clean environment. 

Now’s the best time, too, to give the kids a big talk on the importance of conserving water and electricity, such as turning off the TV when you’re not watching it or the aircon when an electric fan will still do.

It won’t hurt, too, to gather the family, or community, to watch Al Gore’s Oscar-winning An Inconvenient Truth, to learn more about the looming dangers of global warming.

Where to go

HERE are some events your family and you can check out:

n April 18, Friday, the DENR, with Earth Day Network Philippines, opens an art and photo exhibit at SM Mall of Asia

§          April 19, Saturday, Kusina Salud, in San Pablo, Laguna, presents “Bird-Man: An Earth Day Celebration.” The activities include a talk by wild-bird photographer Romy Ocon at 3 pm, and a collaborative dance-art performance by Nerisa Guevara and sound artist Malek Lopez. Tickets at P500 each, with an all-day vegetarian buffet and raffle of 13 artworks. Proceeds will be shared with the Philippine Bird Photography Forum and the Artists Welfare Project. For inquiries, call or text Apple or April at 0921-7726985 or (049) 573-6155. Or, e-mail kusinasalud@gmail.com or kusinasalud@yahoo.com.

§          April 20, Sunday, attend the Tour of the Fireflies, an annual bike-for-the-environment activity that will take place in key cities around the Philippines. In Metro Manila this year’s starting point is at Tiendesitas in Pasig City

§          April 22, Tuesday, Earth Day, begins with a fluvial parade starting from key points like Marikina, Pasig and Makati.

Other activities by the DENR and Earth Day Network Philippines at SM Mall of Asia include a forum called “Paglalayag, Paglalakbay, Pagtitipon, Ugnayan, at Pamamahayag”; and awarding for the Search for Model Barangays on Ecological Waste Management. There will also be two contrasting awards: the Lason Award and the relaunching of the Industrial Ecowatch Program. At the Mall Parking Terminal, there will be “Baga’t Hangin Musi-kahan on Wheels,” free emission-testing of vehicles and free medical checkup for drivers. There will also be a motorcade to the Manila Cathedral for a Pontifical Mass after the awarding ceremonies.

At the Cultural Center of the Philippines, Earth Day starts as early as 7:30 am with “Linis at Dilig,” a CCP Complex cleanup drive.

The whole-day celebration, which will have a dragon-boat regatta, art-exhibit opening, film showing and forum, will culminate with Buhos, a presentation of Philippine water rituals at the CCP Front Lawn and Fountain.

§          April 25, Friday, Earth Jam on Tomas Morato Street in Quezon City. This is the much-anticipated annual Earth Day street concert featuring several bands and individual performing artists.

Check your local newspapers or communities as well for more specific Earth Day celebrations.

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