Earth Day, an annual event celebrated on April 22, originated in 1970. Today, events in more than 193 countries are coordinated by the Earth Day Network to raise awareness of environmental protection.

A simple way to honor this day is to learn about ways to preserve and protect the environment. There are small things people can do each day that make a big difference in taking care of the environment so that the generations to come will also be able to enjoy the beauty of our planet.

Beatrix Cendana/Staff Illustration

Separate trash

In the U.S. each person throws away about 4.4 pounds of trash each day. Multiply that by 325 million and total is 1.43 trillion pounds of trash daily.

People can separate their trash into three categories: organic waste, inorganic waste and recyclable items. Organic waste includes food and yard waste. In Tacoma, organic waste makes up a third of the garbage collected. To sign-up for free food and yard waste services, residents of Tacoma can call 253-502-2100.

Plastic (bottles, jugs, tubs, jars, buckets, plant pots), paper (refrigerated cartons, paper boxes, mixed paper, paper bags, cardboard), and metal (aluminum and metal cans) can be recycled. There are many locations to drop off glass in Pierce County. Locations can be found on piercecountywa.org/1509/Recycling-Menu.

Use reusable bags for shopping

According to the Huffington Post, of the 19-billion pounds of garbage, 85 percent of it is plastic waste that ends up in the ocean. One way to reduce plastic waste pollution is for stores to charge customers for each plastic bag used.

Seattle has been successful in their ban on  single-use plastic bags. The city reported that from 2012-2016, there was a 50 percent reduction of plastic bags going to city dumps. Tacoma joined banning them in last July. In some grocery stores, such as Albertson’s, shoppers can drop off their plastic bags to be recycled.

Plant more trees

When asked about ideas for saving the environment, the first thought is to plant more trees. Trees absorb pollution before it is evaporated into the clouds. They also produce more oxygen – one large tree can supply enough oxygen for four people per day. Assuming that each person in the U.S. planted one tree, 325 million more trees would exist.

Learn more about environmental issues

Environmental issues like climate change and global warming are important topics in the world today. Even people who are not as knowledgeable about the environment can help the earth by gaining knowledge of environmental problems. One way to do this is by researching in the library or on the Internet to learn about ways to prevent global warming.

Spread the word

Social media or public institutions such as schools are good places to spread the word. Events and ideas can be posted on Facebook. A simple poster using natural materials such as leaves, flowers or branches can be posted on a school bulletin board. Another way is to give a presentation or offer a workshop that focuses on specific issues related to the environment. Organizing or attending an event that celebrates the environment is another way to spread the word.

Join an environmental group

Joining an environmental group provides an opportunity to connect with others who care about the environment. At Pierce, Environmental Resources Conservationists is a club that is led by Terry Zhou. The club hosts events such as an Earth Day Carnival, which will be held in April, where children can learn how to recycle and separate trash through fun games. There will also be a community garden in the Rainier Building where students can plant succulents in recycled bottles.

Save more energy

It is hard to deny that nowadays everything is about electronic devices. Many people charge their cell phone for more than two hours. Worse yet, they leave it charging from night until morning.

Everyone can save energy by using electricity only as needed. Turning off electronic devices, lights and appliances after using them can help conserve a tremendous amount of energy. The truth is that use of energy resources from coal and natural gas is irreversible.

According to Ryan Wu, an international student from China studying at Pierce College, China celebrates Earth Day by turning off all lights for three hours. It is a symbolic way to remind people to conserve energy. This celebration started in Sydney, Australia about 10 years ago and has spread to many other countries since then.

Remember that every day is Earth Day

“Earth Day is about beautiful things around us and people will appreciate how beautiful our earth is by cleaning up trash either at school or wherever we are,” said Pierce College student Esmeralda Villalpando Ramos.

Even doing one small thing a day can help make the earth a better place for all living creatures.

———————————————————————————————————————————–

A Q & A with Terry Zhou of Pierce’s Environmental Resources Conservationists

What is your main goal of this group and future plan to do for the Earth?

The main goal will be leading students to environmental resource conservation, social service (food bank), and also to inspire them, awakening the inner environmental stewardship in students.

What is your expectation for all students when thinking about Earth Day?

It would actually be great if we can manage to pull off the event like last year (Earth Day Carnival). My plan is to contact professor Hilary Stephens and other science students to get children, including homeschoolers, to join and teach them about environmental values (such as water, electricity and waste conservation). I think it is extremely crucial for environmental education to begin at a young age – at least the children will recognize how much people are suffering from lack of water-electricity and even food scarcity. That’s my dream – to let children realize this important nexus for the future of earth.

From Hillary Stephens: We will be doing things the Tuesday after Earth Day – April 24^th.  We will have hands on science activities for students in the Rainier upper winter garden from noon – 1:30 pm and free shows in the Science Dome of Dynamic Earth at noon and 1pm and Habitat Earth at 12:30 and 1:30 pm.