Earth Day is April 22nd. Since 1970, Earth Day has been celebrated for the purpose of educating people about the problems our planet is facing. You can celebrate Earth Day by doing a project that helps our environment.
Click on Earth Day - Everyday! for related projects and project tool kit resources.
ACTIVITIES
Plant a Tree
One tree in its average 50-year lifetime can clean up $62,000 of air pollution. Trees give us oxygen to breathe; we give trees carbon dioxide, which they thrive upon. Trees recycle water, prevent soil erosion and provide homes for animals. According to the National Arbor Day Foundation, "Cities without trees are 'heat islands'. 100 million additional mature trees would save $2 billion per year in energy costs. A windbreak can lower home heating bills 10 - 20% and shade trees planted east and west of your home can cut cooling costs 15% - 35%. Trees remove air pollution by lowering air temperature through respiration and by retaining particulates."
Decide on where you would want to plant the tree. (Are there dead trees in your area that need to be replaced?) It could be at your school, church, synagogue, a park in town, a community center or a shelter. Get permission to plant the tree. Make arrangements for the tree to be taken care of after you have planted it. It might be a class at school, a custodian at the facility or a grounds crew of your town.
Ask a local nursery, community forester or garden club to donate a tree. Tell them you will give them credit for the donation. Ask their advice on which tree is most appropriate for the area.
For possible assistance obtaining a tree, contact your local Keep America Beautiful affiliate at www.kab.org or Alliance for Community Trees, 201 Lathrop Way, Suite F, Sacramento, CA 95815. Every year, National Arbor Day is celebrated on the last Friday in April . You can get ten seedlings for $10.00 from the National Arbor Day Foundation. Call 402-474-5655 or log onto www.arborday.org. for more information.
Before you dig in, contact the telephone, gas, electric, cable and sewer companies. Ask them to check the area where you want to plant so you don't hit any cables or pipes. Consider dedicating the tree to someone in your community.
Partner with an existing organization in your area, such as a garden club, nature center, botanical garden, or an environmental center to plant flowers or vegetables at a low-income community center, shelter or retirement home. These groups could provide you with expertise and possibly funds or the materials you need. Work with the people at the community home to plant and maintain your garden. For example, seniors at a community or retirement home might be interested in an "intergenerational" garden that would provide long-term opportunities for your Club and your Community to work together. The National Gardening Association, www.kidsgardening.com/grants.asp, awards 400 Youth Garden Grants to groups of children. Check the following web sites for more information on planting trees and gardens:
American Forests:
www.americanforests.org
The Heifer Project:
www.heifer.org/cabrini.html
Marshall House Organizations that Plant Trees:
http://www.mhmail.com/links/planting-trees.html
Trees for Life:
www.treesforlife.org
Recycle Education
Recycle your computer!
According to a recent poll1, poor children are at risk of being "bystanders in the digital age" and disadvantaged in the job market because they do not have home computers. There are many organizations that will accept used computers for disadvantaged children, the disabled, and schools in developing countries.
Check out these programs:
I Have a Dream Foundation:
Located in Stamford, CT, the I Have a Dream Foundation also accepts used computers to learn and earn.
Phone: 203-356-9866
Email: Bill@infosourcect.com
LINCT Coalition:
Located in Hampton Bays, NY their "Learn and Earn" technology program "refurbishes donated computers and conducts intensive computer job readiness classes where trainees 'earn' the computer they learn on to keep".
Phone: 516-728-9100
Web site: www.linct.org
Think Detroit:
Located in Michigan, Think Detroit combines combines athletics and computers to form a program called "Balls and Bytes". Children who play in their organized baseball, softball and basketball leagues are eligible for training at their lab in hardware repair, software applications and the Internet. Graduates receive a reconditioned computer to take home.
Website: www.thinkdetroit.org
Other web sites to check:
Computer Recycling Center:
www.crc.org/donate/index.html
GiveSpot:
www.givespot.com/donate/computers.htm
Contact these organizations or other websites to see how your Club can reduce the 75,000 tons of electronic equipment waste each year while helping a child in need.
Recycle Your Computer Project
Recycle Education at Your Local Grocery Store
Books, bottles, batteries, plastic, plastic light bulbs, clothing, furniture, cardboard, newspapers and cars can all be recycled. People need to be reminded and to know where to take their items. You can help!
Recycle Education Project
Your Club can participate in the national Earth Day Groceries Project. Log onto their web site at www.earthdaybags.org for more information, including how to get free grocery bags from the American Forest & Paper Organization.
Recycle your bicycle! 
Your old bicycle has many more miles to go. It can change a person's life and even improve the economy of a developing nation.
Check out these organizations:
The International Bicycle Fund:
This is an excellent resource and has an extensive list of youth bicycle programs listed by state.
Website: www.ibike.org/encouragement/youth.htm
Pedals for Progress:
Re-tools bikes for desperately poor developing countries. For example, in Africa less than 1% of the population own cars. Most of Africa cannot afford highway construction and maintenance, imported oil or cars. Food production, health care and education are limited by a lack of transportation. Your old bicycle could be the main means of transportation for doctors, teachers and other adults. A bicycle raises the living standard in these countries where transportation is difficult or non-existing.
Phone: 1-908-638-4811
Website: www.p4p.org
Recycle-a-Bicycle (RAB):
Offers bicycle maintenance and repair workshops to youth between the ages of 10 - 18. They offer kids the opportunity to participate in a sweat-equity "Earn-A-Bike" program, in which extra work in the shop is credited toward acquisition of a bicycle. The majority of the bikes not earned by children are donated to community organizations. RAB endeavors to return cast-off bicycles to the streets in good working order and to improve the mobility of disadvantaged clients.
Website: www.recycleabicycle.org
Bikes for Kids:
Each year, with the help of high school students, Bikes for Kids repairs and donates hundreds of bike to kids in foster care, and special camps in Connecticut. They also donate bikes to children with special needs. Donated bikes are usually plentiful. Bikes for Kids needs NEW HELMETS. No bike is given to a child without a new helmet. To help Bikes for Kids with new helmets --
Call: Chuck Graeb at 860-434-3684 or
Write: Bikes for Kids at 110 Neck Road, Old Lyme, CT 06731
Recycle Your Bicycle Project
Have a bicycle drive!
Clean UP, Spiff UP!
Organize a clean-up, repair or painting party to assist the elderly, a low-income facility in your or area in your own community. Have an Earth Day Picnic when the job is done! You might want to ask a local merchant to donate T-shirts or painters caps. These items can bear their logo and give your group team spirit at the same time.
Clean Up and Spiff Up Projects:
Places that might need cleaning:
Your room at home! Clean out closets, bookshelves and toy boxes*. Find agencies that will accept your used items (which should also be cleaned and in good condition). If you can't find any listed in the phone book, call local churches to see if they can direct you. Or, have the kids in your club join together for a tag sale and use the proceeds for your club projects or donate them to beautify a low-income area. (*Kids Care Club's Playdate in Tanzania Project has requested used videos for their Bugando Hospital playroom. Other pediatric hospitals and shelters often have need for used family videos and used Nintendo games).
Yards of an elderly resident or a neighbor who is unable to care for their yard, schools, churches, town parks or lots, community centers, town sidewalks or streams. Cleaning could include: picking up trash and recycling, cutting back overgrown bushes, pulling weeds, raking leaves, sweeping porches, or arranging for large items of trash to be removed. (Call a local sanitation company and ask if they would volunteer their services or a dumpster for an Earth Day Clean Up). Log onto Keep America Beautiful at www.kab.org for ideas on how kids can prevent litter and take care of our environment.
Check with your school or town for things that need painting such as fences, benches, parking meters, fire hydrants or a wall that has been covered with graffiti. Ask local merchants to donate the paint.
RESOURCES
Earth Day at Kids Domain:
www.kidsdomain.com/holiday/earthday
Earth Science Enterprise:
http://kids.earth.nasa.gov
Environmental Protection Agency:
www.epa.gov/kids
International Earth Day Site:
www.earthsite.org
Keep America Beautiful:
www.kab.org
Planet Pals:
www.planetpals.com
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