As Covid-19 has most of us sequestered, we write to ask you to celebrate this significant anniversary with us.   These are short clips to take you down memory lane and a couple of opportunities to dig deeper into solutions.  So, let's take a moment to refocus, celebrate, and escalate our efforts to help the planet! 

Watch as Frank Borman and Jim Lovel share their awe as they view the first images of Earth from Space (3 min) from Apollo 8 in 1968.

What did that first Earth Day celebration/protest  (3 min) look like on April 22, 1970?  

Greta Thunberg inspires youth and all of us:                      The Disarming Case to Act Right Now, (Ted Talk 2018, 11 min).

And, we cannot review the history without also paying attention to environmental justice. . .

With history and environmental justice in mind, we now turn to solutions: 

First, energy:

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez AOC sends A Message from the Future (7 min).

Naomi Klein digs deeper by presenting The Case for the Green New Deal (26 min).

Good News!  Oil Companies are Collapsing but Wind and Solar Keep Growing New York Times, 4//7/2020.

Then, nature:

David Attenborough speaks (1 min) on the power of nature to heal our planet, followed by a longer Interview (13 min).

The Soil Story (4 min), by Kiss the Ground, tells us how agriculture, often blamed as the major cause of climate change, has now been identified by scientists as a major player in reversing global warming. 

Nobel laureate, Wangari Maathai (8 min), tells us how tree planting became a movement in Kenya.

Action:  Please join us and do one thing to support Mother Earth over the next month.  Here are a few ideas you can do while sequestered:

 -  Write a letter to a politician about your love of Mother Earth and the urgency to act, OR write to Trump and cc. all your fed and state representatives, and to the Recorder.

 -  Plant a tree, shrub, or flower native to our area.  Native plants offer more food than exotics do, to critters with whom we share our planet.

- Pick up litter. We can wear gloves and masks, be outdoors, see a friend or two 6 feet apart, and get our area cleaner. Blue litter bags are still available on the front porch of 34 Pierce Street, courtesy of Greenfield Public works. Fill them with litter when you take a walk, then put in front of your house on your regular trash day. DPW will pick up at no charge.

- Watch film "Immuto" (See GG's Facebook page for link) and join a Watch Party.

This Earth Day message is a collaboration between

Greening Greenfield and Traprock Center for Peace and Justice

Watch the Recorder for Earth Day-themed My Turns and articles.