Earth Week, EARTH DAY, April 22, 2011

I am linking up this post with various meme's please try to visit them : Watery Wednesday and Outdoor Wednesday and Nature Notes

What are you doing on April 22, 2011? It is EARTH DAY!  I visited various websites that have wonderful suggestions on what you can do on Earth Day. The Nature Conservancy suggest going on a picnic that includes 5 easy choices:  eat smart, eat local, eat sustainably, eat green and eat out. A picnic on Earth Day sounds like a great idea to me.


My mosiac photos are of a Purple Finch in my backyard habitat, visit a National Wildlife Refuge like Chincoteague NWR, the Bald Eagles have made a huge comeback after the banning of DDT, plant some trees, find a nice place to have a picnic, cleanup a stream or river.

This is the reservoir just  a walk away from my house and a great place to have a picnic.

The Nature Conservancy also helping Fernando Veiga to plant one billion trees in the Atlantic Forest in Brazil.. One dollar plants one tree. Click on the link to donate your dollar.

                                  I say plant a tree and stop the deforestation!!!!!!!

According to the WWF website the United Nations have declared 2011 the International year of the forest . WWF plans to work to increase and strengthen the protection of the worlds forest. Plant a tree to help clean the air and keep the skies blue. Not only are trees pleasing to the eyes, they help to remove pollutants, they fight soil erosion and conserve rainwater. Here is another great link is Arbor Day Foundation .


                           Let's keep the pretty skies BLUE

Here is a link to help protect your watersheds Adopt your watershed.  Stream cleanup sounds like a great idea, you get to be outside enjoying the sunshine and if you like to bird you might see some great bird sightings. 2011 marks the 20th  anniversary of National River Cleanup. My hubby will take a trash bag along on his walks to clean up the areas he likes to hike.

The Wilderness Society has some great suggestions too, volunteering on trail maintenance or leading wildlife tours in the refuges. Monitoring wildlife is one of my favorites and eBird makes it easy to record your bird count. Most of my ebird counts have been from my backyard and the reservoir's watershed around my house.

The National Wildlife Federation Certified Backyard habitat  is a website were you can learn how to make your backyard into a wildlife habitat. My yard was certified years ago, it is easy to provide food, water, shelter and a place for the birds to raise their families. My pond attracts frogs, birds dragonflies and other critters.


One of the many frogs in my backyard pond

                                  


                                The Eastern Bluebird nest in one of my bluebird houses in my backyard  habitat. At one time the Eastern Bluebird population was decreasing, thanks to the many Bluebird trails and housing their numbers have increased.

How about Pick 5 for the Environment here you are given many choices to pick from, simple easy ways to take action. Some actions that I like are protecting your water from pesticides, planting a trees or many trees, learning about the native species in your area and recycling is probably one of the easiest things my family does and last but not least please do not litter. Collecting rain water is another great idea.

I also would like to link Linda Lear's website  in memory of Rachel Carson a scientist and an ecologist with my Earth Day post.  Rachel Carson's book "Silent Spring " spurred a reversal in the national pesticide policy. The book led to a ban on DDT. Thanks to the ban we are enjoying an increase in the population of Bald Eagles. Pesticides have a negative impact on our health and environment. Rachel Carson has some award winning books The Sea Around Us and The Edge of the Sea and here is a a link to a few of her ebooks

Just a warning in case you already saw this post ( I did change a few of the photos)  I added this post on to my Viewing nature with Eileen blog also. I feel Earth Day should be recognized by all and hopefully some of you will do one action or more I listed above. Even if it is just one action it could make a difference.

Thanks to all the meme hosts and thank you for stopping by my post. Have a great Earth Week and Earth Day!