Holidays are always a cause for celebration. Whether it be Christmas, St. Patrick’s Day, Valentine’s Day or Halloween, people across the country make preparations to commemorate these special days. The most underrated holiday that receives much less attention than it deserves is days away: Earth Day.
While most holidays are celebrated with mostly silly yet fun traditions, Earth Day should have more attention due to its true importance. Earth is in decline. Humans have destroyed a variety of habitats and thrown their pollutants into the environment. The climate has been rapidly changing in recent years, and the negative human impacts on this planet are unavoidable. Therefore, here are some ways WCHS students should be celebrating Earth Day.
Tree Planting
A highly underrated activity, tree planting has a multitude of positive effects on the environment. Trees filter out pollutants in the air but also act as a buffer for the runoff, which is filled with pesticides and other chemicals going into Earth’s bodies of water. On April 27, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation will host a tree-planting activity in Frederick, Maryland. Although held a few days after Earth Day, it is a good way to celebrate this planet and fight against climate change.
Park Clean Ups
Picking up trash is always an amazing way to make a small difference. Whether students simply help out at their local park or do an organized pickup, it still demonstrates their thanks to the planet. Nonbiodegradable substances containing plastics and other substances will remain in the environment forever as they do not break down. This means they will continuously pollute if people do not try to make a change. On April 27, once again, there will be a park cleanup at Rosemary Hills-Lyttonsville Park in Silver Spring.
Spreading Awareness
One last way to show gratitude to this planet is to spread awareness about practices that harm the environment and ways to give back. Whether it be by word of mouth or social media, building an understanding of how people can impact the environment is eye-opening and can truly make a difference. Moreover, most people do not understand the extent to which their actions hurt the organisms and plants around them. To make a larger positive impact, students must spread awareness to those in their community and beyond.
This Earth Day, find ways to give back to this planet. Students should show their gratitude for being alive and using the planet’s resources. Many of the things individuals enjoy are not guaranteed to be around forever, so each individual must do their part to ensure these things last as long as possible. Unlike other holidays, celebrating Earth Day gives us a chance to truly make a difference as a community. This is the only planet where human life exists, so it is important for everyone to cherish it.
