Tag Archives: Earth Day

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Mobilizati​on underway – 65 days to go

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Earth Day 2012:  Mobilize the Earth is now in  full-swing! Every day, the movement is inspiring people all over the world to  act on behalf of the environment – to send a clear message to world leaders  that the world can’t wait.
What will YOU do?
Keep reading for highlights from the last couple of weeks  and learn how you can get involved.
In This Issue: Lead an Earth Day  Event or Join One Nearby A Billion Acts of  Green Reaches Halfway Point MobilizeU Student  Movement Gains Momentum Resources for  People of Faith

Lead an Earth Day  Event or Find One Nearby:People all over the world are already mobilizing for  Earth Day 2012. You can start an Earth Day event or join one nearby!
Remember to send us a photo of your action!
Here are some inspiring examples:

  • Oman –  Oman’s Ministry of Education is mobilizing to hold Earth Day events in 1,043  schools, engaging more than 524,000 students throughout the country. They also published  Earth Day Network’s green schools lesson plans on their education portal in  Arabic and English.
  • Kurdistan,  Iraq – The provincial government  in Kurdistan is mobilizing to plant five million trees for Earth Day 2012. And  Earth Day Network partner “Together” has already planted 400 trees in honor of  Earth Day 2012 in Salah Al-Din Province.
  • Brisbane,  Australia – Divers with Reef Check Australia are mobilizing for Earth Day.  They’ll be doing an underwater cleanup of Moreton Bay and working to raise  awareness about water pollution and the need for marine conservation.
  • Veracruz,  Mexico – Tortugas Fundacion  Yepez is mobilizing to bring people, NGOs and government officials together in  Veracruz for Earth Day to raise awareness about the delicate ecosystem in the  area and promote reforestation throughout the region.
  • Koung Jor,  Thailand – The Branch Foundation is mobilizing to install solar panels in a  refugee camp in Thailand of 600 Burmese refugees. It will be the first  solar-run refugee camp in the world.
  • Norfolk,  United Kingdom – Deepdale Farm is mobilizing to bring community members and  businesses together on the North Norfolk Coast for Earth Day to learn about  sustainability, conservation, eco-friendly living and renewable technologies.

A Billion Acts of  Green® Reaches Halfway Point: A Billion Acts of Green, the world’s largest  environmental service campaign, recently passed the halfway point! We’ve  inspired over 500 million environmental actions from individuals, businesses,  governments, and faith-based and civic organizations all over the world in what  is being called a global referendum on the environment. Help us make it to a  billion for Earth Day!
MobilizeU Student  Movement Gains Momentum:MobilizeU is an international movement of student environmental  activists organizing for Earth Day 2012. And the international collegiate  competition to generate the most acts of green is less than two months away. Dozens  of college students from all over the world have already signed up to represent  their institutions as regional and school coordinators, and more are coming in  every day. Click here to get involved in this exciting youth movement!
Resources for  People of Faith: Earth Day Network is proud to  introduce its Earth Stewardship Resources for People of Faith webpage. This  living-list webpage will provide people of faith with a wide array of resources  to help develop projects to green their congregation and community.
– The Earth Day Network Team

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April 22, 2012 – Join us to Mobilize the Earth

At the recent United Nations Conference of the Parties (COP 17) in Durban, South Africa, world leaders punted once again. Instead of taking meaningful action on climate change today, they put off creation of a global emission treaty until 2020 — a commitment few believe will be honored without massive public intervention. Anticipating this failure, Earth Day Network and our global partners, including Tck Tck Tck, met in Durban to develop a plan for global action in advance of the next major meeting of world leaders at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) in June.

Our plan calls for using Earth Day as a springboard to pressure world leaders. We will organize a global coalition of environmental, faith based, and human rights groups that together with nascent movement building organizations will take action on Earth Day, April 22nd 2012 and Mobilize the Earth™. Together we will demand immediate action to reverse the damage of climate change and other environmental tragedies. Stay tuned for details to come shortly on how you too can Mobilize the Earth™!

Other News:

Mayors and local elected officials from around the world did make history by joining together to sign the Durban Adaptation Charter for Local Governments, requiring cities to increase their mitigation and adaptation efforts immediately. (Read more about the Charter at the Earth Day Network blog)

On December 5th, Earth Day Network, in partnership with National Religious Coalition of Creation Care (NRCCC), hosted an event in Durban where Ela Ghandi and other prominent women faith leaders spoke about the importance of women’s voices in the environmental movement and the need for simple solutions to address carbon emissions. Together, Earth Day Network and NRCCC will continue to encourage faith communities to implement sustainable initiatives in their everyday lives and places of worship.

Upcoming Event:

On December 5th, Earth Day Network, in partnership with National Religious Coalition of Creation Care (NRCCC), hosted an event in Durban where Ela Ghandi and other prominent women faith leaders spoke about the importance of women’s voices in the environmental movement and the need for simple solutions to address carbon emissions. Together, Earth Day Network and NRCCC will continue to encourage faith communities to implement sustainable initiatives in their everyday lives and places of worship.

April 22, 2012: Plan an Event

Help your community plan an Earth Day event! Using the universal platform of Earth Day, invite your friends and neighbors to voice their concerns for the environment and join us as we call upon governments around the world to protect our planet. If you can, please join us on the National Mall in Washington, DCon April 22, 2012 for the world’s largest Earth Day event, an all-day gathering of the world’s top musical talent and most exciting speakers, uniting our voices in a call for a sustainable future for all.
 
 
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Pizza is a vegetable? Tell Congress to Promote Healthy School Meals


 

We thought we fixed this when Ronald Reagan  declared ketchup to be a vegetable and most of our country laughed out loud.   But apparently not.

 http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=%2F2w9NMwavBAhxQgjDpoZ9NcufT5FYZsE

Late last night, Congress  unveiled change to the National School Lunch program that will allow a few dabs  of tomato paste to be considered a vegetable which means that a pizza  is back on our kids’ tables and obesity is here to stay.

Congress chose to look past the straightforward  recommendations of the National Academy of Sciences‘ Institute of Medicine and  the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and instead get in bed with the  American Frozen Food Institute and the National Potato Council to gut major  policy recommendations from the bill.   This unhealthy serving of  corporate special interests will hurt America‘s children — all 55 million of  our kids, particularly poor and disadvantaged kids who have to count on school  for their lunches.

Our nation’s schoolchildren deserve better. Tell  Congress to support the USDA’s work to improve schools meals. The health of our  nation’s schoolchildren is simply too important to be left to special interest  groups like the American Frozen Food Institute or the National Potato Council.

But don’t just listen to Earth Day Network on  this one. Over 100 retired generals and admirals recently declared that the  dire state of our nation’s school food is a national security concern. Why?  One-third of all applicants to the U.S. military are turned down because they  are simply “too fat to fight.”

The USDA had proposed school nutrition standards  that would have doubled the overall amount of fruits and vegetables and would  have increased whole grains and low-fat dairy, while reducing sodium, unhealthy  fats and excess calories. Yet, lobbying from special interest groups has once  again derailed some of these critically important improvements-improvements  that would have given our kids a fighting chance. 

Let the USDA finish its job of helping schools  improve the nutritional quality of their meals. Tell Congress to get off the  payrolls of those FAT cats and back on the side of our children.  http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=2qyDe9WZrcbUkgWGnKl%2FONcufT5FYZsE

– The Earth Day Network Team

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Food Day: Let’s transform the American diet …Earth Day Network


We here at Earth Day Network know all about special dates. After all, the first Earth Day in 1970 is widely credited with launching the modern environmental movement. Today Earth Day is observed in 192 countries and is the largest secular modern day holiday in the world. Now we’re seeking to help promote another special date on the calendar, one that is equally as important–Food Day.

Food Day is October 24, 2011 – Learn how you can participate

Food Day seeks to bring together Americans from all walks of life-parents, teachers, and students; health professionals, community organizers, and local officials; chefs, school lunch providers, and eaters of all stripes-to push for healthy, affordable food produced in a sustainable, humane way. We will work with people around the country to create thousands of events in homes, schools, churches, farmers markets, city halls, and state capitals.

Food Day seeks to transform the American diet. It is about time that we all started eating real. Right now there are far too many people eating diets composed of salty, overly processed packaged foods clad in cardboard and plastic; high-calorie sugary drinks that pack on pounds and rot teeth, but have no nutritional benefit; and fast-food meals made of white bread, fatty grain-fed factory-farmed meat and French fries.

We want to get Americans cooking real food for their families again. We want fewer people at drive-thrus and bigger crowds at farmers’ markets. We want to celebrate fresh fruits, vegetables, and healthy whole grains-and to support the local farms and farmers that produce them. Food produced in a sustainable manner helps to keep pesticides and other toxics out of our water and ecosystems. When you buy food locally you also help reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation of non-local food sources.

We are committed to:Reduce diet-related disease by promoting safe, healthy foods
Support sustainable farms & limit subsidies to big agribusiness
Expand access to food and alleviate hunger
Protect the environment & animals by reforming factory farms
Promote health by curbing junk-food marketing to kids
Support fair conditions for food and farm workers
We welcome you to join us in celebrating Food Day by hosting or attending an event. Transforming our diet is a big step in transforming the way we live so that we may be better stewards of the earth.

Sincerely,
The Earth Day Network Team

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Happy Earth Day! Take the eco personalit​y test! from RAN


What kind of environmentalist are you? What inspires you to action? For Earth Day 2011, we’ve devised a highly entertaining personality test to help you find out.

http://salsa.wiredforchange.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=0EJFmlNL5IQBtWzr1qOWvC%2F7rccknNix

Whether you’re a lover of charismatic megafauna (i.e. fluffy animals) or a cycling fanatic with a taste for organic chimichangas, RAN’s Eco Personality Test will have you pegged in no time. And the best part? When you complete this 5-minute test, you get a big colorful sticker featuring YOUR eco personality in the mail. Yay, presents!

http://salsa.wiredforchange.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=g%2F9fnx0pRLQuvo%2FpZCTQKC%2F7rccknNix

Take RAN’s Eco Personality Test and find out what kind of environmentalist you are!

http://salsa.wiredforchange.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=0EJFmlNL5IQBtWzr1qOWvC%2F7rccknNix

RAN’s design mavens have brilliantly captured the iconography of each environmentalist in five custom coat of arms stickers. We hope you’ll brandish yours with pride. Happy Earth Day!

Take the Eco Personality Test!Get a free sticker featuring your personality type.

For the planet,

Jenn Breckenridge

Social Media Manager