ecobites.com

Making your life greener - one bite at a time.

Every effort to encourage Earth care is to be commended. But, just as more than one birthday each year for an individual would diminish the real birthday, calling other dates Earth Day detracts from the authentic day which can provide a more meaningful focus and obtain more unity in our diversity. The nature of the March equinox provides a reason for an event at the same time all over the world.  

Other events leading up to or following could be called Earth Festivals, or given other names. Then events can complement each other and increase awareness and care for our planet and its people. In the midst of this will be Earth Day, where the United Nations Peace Bell rings at the moment Spring begins and hearts and minds join all over the world.

Earth Day Birthday + Environmental Days to mark on your calendar...

Since the early days of the United Nations system, the UN has established a set of days (as well as weeks, years and decades) to help focus the world on the issues in which the UN has an interest and commitment.

World Water Day
22 March 2008
The international observance of World Water Day is an initiative that grew out of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro.

"World Water Day was established by the United Nations to help create awareness about water issues such as lack of clean drinking water, droughts and hydropower," said Brian Richter, co-director of The Nature Conservancy's global freshwater program. "Today, studies about damaged and threatened freshwater systems are appearing with increasing frequency but there are small and tangible steps that each of us can take to help reduce our impacts"

With a few small, simple changes, you can help reduce your water use, leaving more water in the rivers, lakes and other freshwater sources. These changes will also result in a lower water bill so should benefit your home finances as well:

1. Consider cutting a little water usage from your morning routine. Keeping a timer in your bathroom will remind you to wrap up and get out of the shower faster.

2. If a home renovation is in the cards, splurge on low-flow and water-efficient appliances they'll save you money in the long-run. A front-loading washing machine, for example, uses 40-60% less water than top-loading machines.

3. A new toilet can save you water too, but if you can't install a low-flow toilet, reduce the amount of water used by placing a jar or other closed container full of water into your toilet tank.

4. Install low-flow shower heads and sink spigots, which can both be purchased at your local hardware store, or contact your water utility company to find out if they distribute them for free.

5. When running the dishwasher, make sure it's full to get the maximum use per drop. There's no need to pre-rinse, since most of today's models can handle any kind of grime.

6. Check for - and hastily repair - leaky pipes and faucets. The tiniest leak has far greater impact than you'd think.

7. Don't use your sinks and drains as trash cans, and dispose of oil and other toxic materials properly. Just one gallon of oil reaching the sewer can contaminate one million gallons of fresh water.

8. Reduce water use in your own yard: Try collecting rainwater by placing containers at the end of each gutter. It's perfect for watering your garden; water your lawn or garden in the morning or the evening when the water will evaporate less rapidly, and limit pesticide use, as they'll eventually be carried into our freshwater supply by runoff.

9. Take the easy way out and hit the car wash. A car wash typically uses about 32 gallons of water per vehicle, but the EPA estimates that washing it yourself can use up to 500 gallons of water.

10. Take advantage of recreation opportunities on local lakes and rivers, and learn about the wildlife they support. It will help you understand what we could lose if we don't manage our water wisely.

For more information and events http://www.worldwaterday.org/
 
World Meteorological Day 2008
23 March 2008
Observing our planet for a better future
http://www.wmo.ch/pages/index_en.html
 
Earth Hour is going global this year on Saturday 29 March 2008.

Created to take a stand against the greatest threat our planet has ever faced, Earth Hour uses the simple action of turning off the lights for one hour to deliver a powerful message about the need for action on global warming.

This simple act has captured the hearts and minds of people all over the world. As a result, at 8pm March 29, 2008 millions of people in some of the world’s major capital cities, including Copenhagen, Toronto, Chicago, Melbourne, Brisbane and Tel Aviv will unite and switch off for Earth Hour.

To find out more about Earth Hour, visit the official website www.earthhour.org and sign up.
 

Earth Day 2008 - APRIL 22, 2008

Now is the time to put Earth Day 2008 on your community and school calendars. Your action is to make sure that April 22nd is marked on all the calendars you can think of, including school, work and community. Check the websites of your city, school district, and employer and send them an email to thank them in advance for marking Earth Day, April 22nd, 2008!

Earth Day -- April 22 -- each year marks the anniversary of the birth of the modern environmental movement in 1970.

Among other things, 1970 in the United States brought with it the Kent State shootings, the advent of fiber optics, "Bridge Over Troubled Water," Apollo 13, the Beatles' last album, the death of Jimi Hendrix, the birth of Mariah Carey, and the meltdown of fuel rods in the Savannah River nuclear plant near Aiken, South Carolina -- an incident not acknowledged for 18 years.

It was into such a world that the very first Earth Day was born.
At the time,we were slurping leaded gas through massive V8 sedans. Industry belched out smoke and sludge with little fear of legal consequences or bad press. Air pollution was commonly accepted as the smell of prosperity. Environment was a word that appeared more often in spelling bees than on the evening news.
Earth Day 1970 turned that all around.
On April 22, 20 million Americans took to the streets, parks, and auditoriums to demonstrate for a healthy, sustainable environment.
Now, the fight for a clean environment continues. We invite you to be a part of this history and a part of Earth Day. Discover energy you didn't even know you had. Feel it rumble through the grass roots under your feet and the technology at your fingertips. Channel it into building a clean, healthy, diverse world for generations to come.
Remember, your great, great great grandchildren and make them be proud and not pi!!ed with what we have done!

http://ww2.earthday.net/~earthday/

Celebrate Arbor Day on April 25, 2008!
What is Arbor Day?
Arbor Day is a nationally-celebrated observance that encourages tree planting and care.
Founded by J. Sterling Morton in Nebraska in 1872, National Arbor Day is celebrated each year on the last Friday in April.
National Arbor Day is the last Friday in April, but many states observe Arbor Day on different dates according to their best tree-planting times
http://www.arborday.org/arborday/

International Migratory Bird Day
International Migratory Bird Day is officially celebrated on the second Saturday in May in the U.S. and Canada. While most events will take place on May 10, 2008, we encourage you to organize your program, event, or festival when it best suits you and the birds.
http://www.birdday.org/theme2008.php

International Day for Biological Diversity (World Biodiversity Day)
The International Day for Biological Diversity
Biodiversity and Agriculture
22 May 2008
Agriculture is a key example of how human activities have profound impacts on the ecosystems and biodiversity of our planet. This is why this year’s theme for the International Day for Biological Diversity (IBD) is “Biodiversity and Agriculture.”
Celebration of the IBD in 2008 seeks to highlight the importance of sustainable agriculture not only to preserve biodiversity, but also to ensure that we will be able to feed the world, maintain agricultural livelihoods, and enhance human well being into the 21st century and beyond. At the same time it seeks to highlight the importance of maintaining the world's biological diversity, upon which agriculture and future production is so dependant.
http://www.cbd.int/ibd/2008/

UN World Environment Day
Every 5th of June is a day used by the United Nations to stimulate worldwide awareness of environmental issues and encourages political action.
http://unep.org/wed/2008/english/

UN World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought
17 June World Day to Combat Desertification
The 2008 theme of the Day is Combating Land Degradation for Sustainable Agriculture. This theme was selected in view of the 16th and 17th sessions of the third implementation cycle of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development.
http://www.unccd.int/

UN World Population Day 11 July 2008
World Population Day
World Population Day on 11 July seeks to focus attention on the urgency and importance of population issues. Each year for the past 17 years, United Nations Population Fund offices in all parts of the world have raised awareness about important population and development issues by finding creative ways to publicize World Population Day. 
http://www.unfpa.org/wpd/

International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer
Ozone Day 16 September 2008
On 19 December 1994, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 16 September the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer, commemorating the date, in 1987, on which the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer was signed.
States are invited to devote the Day each year to promote, at the national level, activities in accordance with the objectives of the Montreal Protocol and its amendments
http://www.uneptie.org/ozonaction/events/ozoneday/

UN World Habitat Day 6 October 2008
The UN World Habitat Day is observed every year on the first Monday of October.
The United Nations has designated the first Monday in October every year as World Habitat Day to reflect on the state of human settlements and the basic right to adequate shelter for all. It is also intended to remind the world of its collective responsibility for the future of the human habitat.
http://www.unhabitat.org/

International Day for Natural Disaster Reduction - second Wednesday in October

International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict - November 6

International Mountain Day - December 11
International Mountain Day is an opportunity to create awareness about the importance of mountains to life, to highlight the opportunities and constraints in mountain development and to build partnerships that will bring positive change to the world's mountains and highlands.
http://www.fao.org/mnts/intl_mountain_day_en.asp

Minute for Peace 22 December 2008
On December 22, 2008, join with Earth Trustees all over the world in dedicating your hearts during a "Minute for Peace." Let every radio and TV station fill the day with minutes of music and words that inspire peaceful actions. Help us unite as one human family in new understanding and care for this wonderful nest in the stars: Planet Earth, our home.

http://www.earthsite.org/

Stop Global Warming Virtual March

This is a movement about change, as individuals, as a country, and as a global community. Join the 1,027,668 supporters of the Stop Global Warming Virtual March, and become part of the movement to demand our leaders freeze and reduce carbon dioxide emissions now. We are all contributors to global warming and we all need to be part of the solution.

http://www.stopglobalwarming.org/

Challenge to Presidential Candidates and the Media...
Sign the Global Green petition urging our next president to make the earth a major priority.

We've reached the 11th hour on climate change...

2008 could be a turning point in climate history. The next President of the United States will have the power to lead the world in solving the climate crisis. The scientific consensus is that we must take significant action in the next few years or or risk irreversible damage to the planet.

It is predicted that rising sea levels will put hundreds of millions of people at risk and we could lose entire coastal cities –in the US and around the world - if Greenland and Antarctica continue to melt at alarming rates.

Stopping Global Warming is a moral issue as the poor, who are least capable of adapting to a warming world, disproportionately feel its impacts, and the ecosystem on which future generations will depend is being severely compromised.

We urge you to join Global Green USA by drawing a line in the sand and insuring that New Orleans and coastal cities and island nations around the world are not wiped out by the impacts of global warming.

We can succeed, but only if we have bold leadership and take urgent action.

We can only do this if the media continue to cover climate change as one of the critical issues of our time, and challenge Presidential candidates on the their plans and positions. Given the growing crisis, the media must press candidates to make climate change a top priority and,to outline what actions they will take in their first 100 days in office.

We need strong leadership from the next President of the United States to solve the climate crisis.   Unfortunately the legislative solutions being considered in Washington are inadequate and will not solve the crisis.

We call upon candidates to create, detail and share a 100-day plan – such as the Presidential Climate Action Plan - for their first days in office to push for meaningful, aggressive fuel-economy standards, carbon-neutral green building requirements, mandatory caps on CO2 emissions, mechanisms to empower and protect low-income communities in solving global warming, and the elimination of wasteful subsidies to polluting oil, gas and coal industries while dramatically increasing incentives for renewable energy technologies that will create jobs and build a sustainable economy for the 21st century.
http://www.globalgreen.org/programs/climate/act_pledge.cfm

Welcome to NRDC's Action Center! Here you'll find all the tools, tips and information you need to help protect the earth's extraordinary wealth of natural treasures.

http://www.nrdc.org/action/