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Happy Birthday Earth!
By Melissa Martin, Ph.D.
The hanging globe we live on is another year older. “Happy Birthday to
you. Happy Birthday, Mother Earth. Happy Birthday to you.” Sing along.
Earth is our home.
How old is earth? It depends on who you ask. A creationist and an
evolutionist will give different answers. A scientist and a Bible
scholar will give different answers.
Who named our Earth? Its name comes from the old English and Germanic
words meaning ‘the ground.’ Who or what created Earth? ‘In the
beginning, God created the heaven and the earth, and the earth was
without form and void.’ The other theory is called ‘Big Bang.’
What gifts can we give to Earth; a planet that sustains our lives. Air,
land, water—essential elements for the human race. Food from the soil
and the sea. Oxygen from the atmosphere and the trees. Shelters with
wood, rocks, bricks, marble. Precious metals and jewels are harvested
from Earth.
We can do better at protecting our Earth home. Some elementary schools
support “Our Amazing Earth curriculum.” We need to teach the young how
to take care of our planet. Nature is a learning playground.
“A nation that destroys its soils destroys itself. Forests are the
lungs of our land, purifying the air and giving fresh strength to our
people. ”—Franklin D. Roosevelt
Ohio Cares about Earth
Earth Day Columbus is the largest volunteer-led Earth Day volunteer
effort and celebration in the U.S. Organized annually by Green
Columbus, a Central Ohio nonprofit. www.earthdaycolumbus.org.
Keep Ohio Beautiful, a nonprofit organization, “believes that everyone
deserves to live in an environment that is healthy, safe, clean and
beautiful.” As a state affiliate of Keep America Beautiful, Keep Ohio
Beautiful serves as Ohio’s umbrella organization for 40 local affiliate
organizations throughout Ohio. www.keepohiobeautiful.org.
The Ohio River
Cleaning and protecting the Ohio River does help Earth. In October
2019, the national non-profit Living Lands and Waters organization’s
barge focused on a part of the Ohio River, about halfway between
Cincinnati and Portsmouth. “It's a beautiful river valley but there's a
lot of trash from top to bottom. Probably as bad a river that we work
is the Ohio River,” stated Mike Coyne-Logan in a 2019 article by
Spectrum News. www.livinglandsandwaters.org.
Ohio Gets Clean
The Clean Ohio Fund restores, protects, and connects Ohio's important
natural and urban places by preserving green space and farmland,
improving outdoor recreation, and cleaning up brownfields to encourage
redevelopment and revitalize communities. www.development.ohio.gov.
Many cities, towns, and townships in Ohio invite community volunteers
for annual cleanup days. Some areas provide a day for disposing of
special items at no extra cost to residents.
What can you do to help our Earth in 2020? Volunteer with a cleanup
group. Teach your children not to litter. Watch National Geographic
with your family and engage in ongoing conversations about our amazing
planet. Checkout www.kids.nationalgeographic.com. Cleanup behind
yourself when you visit a park. Use a reusable water bottle. Recycle
ink cartridges.
“When the last tree is cut and the last fish killed, the last river
poisoned, then you will see that you can't eat money.”—John May, The
Greenpeace Story
Happy Birthday Earth!
Melissa Martin, Ph.D., is an author, columnist, educator, and
therapist. She lives in Southern Ohio. Contact her at
melissamcolumnist@gmail.com.
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