Today, April 22nd, is Earth Day which is, quite obviously, a day of celebration for ..the Earth! The Earth Day Network was founded 40 years ago on the premise that all people, regardless of race, gender, income, or geography, have a moral right to a healthy, sustainable environment. 'Our mission is to broaden and diversify the environmental movement worldwide, and to mobilize it as the most effective vehicle for promoting a healthy, sustainable environment. We pursue our mission through a combination of education, public policy, and activism campaigns.'
Earth Day Network has a global reach with more than 20,000 partners and organizations in 190 countries. More than 1 billion people participate in Earth Day activities, making it the largest secular civic event in the world. This year, VOICE calls on you to mark Earth Day this Thursday with a special token of "Earth Appreciation". This could be as easy as getting together with friends and discussing ways you could make your daily activities lighter in carbon emissions and waste; cooking a vegetarian dinner for the family trying to stick to seasonal, local and organic produce or perhaps making a much valued donation to an environmental NGO like VOICE who relies on the goodwill of donations to carry out our work in environmental policy and education. We really hope you take time to consider the Earth this Earth Day and hope that our poem below offers some inspiration!
Enough environmental destruction has occurred to awaken us from the slumber of indifference.
We have moved from indifference to concern.
We continue to move towards another paradigm that restores a measure of sanity and proportion to the art of living.
We begin to shed what is unnecessary and lighten our footsteps on the planet.
Our preoccupation with wealth, power, status and luxury softens and we start to enjoy an unencumbered life.
We begin to achieve the delicate balance between the pleasure we get from things and the pleasure we get from the freedom from things.
We are learning to look closely, be patient, slow down and respect the earth.
(By VOICE campaigner Gay Brabazon, Inspired by “A Culture of Simplicity" by Leonard Koren in Resurgence Magazine )
