Earthday Business on Your Mind?
July 30th, 2009 | 
Author:
Earthday Business on Your Mind?
The sun is shining across the hills of West Cork as I listen to the story of Earthday told by a team of evangelists with nothing but Earthday business on their minds. In 2008, visionary Simon Ford started a group to bring like-minded, positive people together in socially conscious activities. He called the group Social Traffic and right now that group has Earthday business on its mind.
The group’s first major campaign centers around Earth Day with an event named, Earthday Birthday a global birthday party for Mother Earth. Earthday 2009 and the celebrations that will go with it is all set to clamor its way across the social media landscape like some all embracing vine, covering the sometimes harsh elements of the online world with a softer, greener facade which many hope will last for more than a lifetime.
Earthday 2009 is a global celebration and a day to spread awareness of people’s destructive impact on the planet. But before you jump right in there and start changing the world on a massive scale here’s a few simple things you can do to make a difference right now, tomorrow and every single day after that.
Here’s my list of top five things to do to celebrate Earthday 2009 and reduce your impact on our planet;
1. Plant a tree or two. If you’re feeling energetic plant a whole field full.
A tree will absorb CO2 and other forms of pollution, provide a home to hundreds of creatures, help to create and retain soil and performs a whole host of other ecological functions. And, in case you needed a reminder, will leave a lasting legacy of your time on the planet.
2. Walk to work for a day, a week or a whole month. You’ll feel better and the earth will be a much healthier place to live too.
You might even want to think about joining a car sharing scheme and make it a permanent part of your work life balance to drive to work only one day a week and sleep the other four in the passenger seat while someone else does all the hard work!
3. Dry your dishes naturally. Turn off the dishwasher at the dryer stage of the cycle and leave your plates and cutlery to dry themselves for a change!
4. Turn off all your plug sockets before bed. Maybe spend the evening in the dark for one day a week and treat the kids to a few ghost stories before bedtime!
5. Don’t be a water importer.
Get rid of your supply of bottled water, keep a jug of fresh tap water in the fridge and reduce the damage we do to the environment by producing plastic bottles to hold gallons of mineral water that tastes no different to the clear, fresh water that is piped through your home.
So, if you’ve got business on your mind this Earthday, perhaps you should take a few minutes to look around you and realise how precious our planet is and how beautiful that small piece of turf is right outside your window.
If you want to know more about this subject and how you can make a difference take a look at this great squidoo lens all about Earth Day Birthday right now.
Neil Ashworth is a member of Simon Ford’s Social Traffic Team who are raising awareness of environmental issues using the power of social media marketing to support the Earth Day Birthday campaign.
India has an ambitious plan to generate 20 gigawatts of solar by 2020.
Berkeley's Solar Financing Idea Catches On – Environment and Energy
One of the major obstacles preventing many homeowners from installing solar panels on their roofs is, well, it’s expensive. At least in the short term. True, the panels may pay for themselves over the course of several years, …
India to embark on â?solar missionâ? – COP15 United Nations Climate …
The “National Solar Mission”, yet to be formally adopted by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s special panel on climate, envisages the creation of a statutory solar authority that would make it mandatory for states to buy some solar power. …
Kodak Solar Charger KS100-C +2
Here’s another portable solar charger from Kodak, the KS100-C +2. This compact device is able to absorb power from either a USB power source or the sun.
From the Canyon Edge – 
ustin Kirkland: Going Solar in Austin, Texas
The system consists of a total of 44 Sharp NT-175U1 175 Watt Solar Panels, and an a PVI-6000-OUTD-US Aurora Photovoltaic Inverter. It should supply the majority of our electricity (according to PV Watts) and pay itself off within a …
Posted in