Why Every Day Should be Earth Day

Nicole Viola Bennett -

The following is a guest post by Stacie Tharp of Plant With Purpose

April 22nd will mark the 41st annual Earth Day celebration, a tradition that began decades ago with one U.S. Senator determined to put environmental issues on the map. Fast forward to today, and hundreds of millions of people in hundreds of countries across the globe come out in droves to local fairs and rallies, all in the name of going green.

With all the hoopla surrounding Earth Day, it makes me wonder- why isn’t every day Earth Day?

Each day, each of us is presented with opportunities to make decisions that will either help or harm the environment. From the way we dispose of waste to the type of food we buy, we all have a role in protecting the Earth.

This Earth Day, what if we all decide to do something that will make an impact beyond April 22nd? One of the most powerful ways to make a lasting change just so happens to be one of the easiest.

Plant a tree.

For just $1, you can plant a tree that will not only help protect the water supply and prevent natural disasters, but will also empower rural poor farmers to lift themselves out of poverty.

Plant With Purpose is an environmental non-profit working internationally to reverse deforestation and poverty amongst the rural poor, and has been planting trees in six countries around the world for 25 years. The simple act of planting a tree can drastically improve the quality of life for the millions of poor farmers who depend on the land daily for survival. Check out this video to learn more.

This April, Plant With Purpose launched its “Trees Please! Campaign” in order to raise $10,000 to plant 10,000 trees by Earth Day. You can actively partner with Plant With Purpose, and millions of others across the globe, in an effort to protect the environment by taking any of these action steps:

  • Bike to work four times in the next month instead of driving and plant two orchards ($20)
  • For every hour you don’t watch TV you can save approximately $4.00. Challenge yourself to unplug your tube until Earth Day and you could save almost enough for a forest ($100)
  • Sponsor a village for less than you spend on coffee in a month ($32/month)
  • Check out our website here to learn about the many other ways you can make a difference

This Earth Day, let’s all make a decision that will last beyond tomorrow. Beyond the rallies and the fairs, beyond the poster contests and craft projects at elementary schools, and even beyond the borders of our own country. Join Plant With Purpose as we seek to improve the quality of life for the earth and the billions of us who call it home, one tree at a time.

Stacie Tharp is the Public Relations and Events Intern at Plant With Purpose.

Editor’s note: I really love the work that Plant with Purpose does. We’ve sponsored a village in Ojo de Agua, Mexico for several years now and I love getting updates on how the village is learning new skills to help them sustain themselves, and learning to use the land more wisely. By being involved in sponsorship, I’ve been amazed to learn how much of an impact deforestation has had on poverty.

If you’d like to learn more about Plant With Purpose’s mission and history, I highly recommend reading Tending to Eden: Environmental Stewardship for God’s People

, a book by the executive director of the organization, Scott Sabin.