Today is Earth Day. It was mostly gray with some sun patches shining through. The temperature was a high of 68 degrees Fahrenheit. I woke up, like any other Friday, watched the sun filter through my blinds, and thought, Hey. It’s Earth Day. But why do we need a day to remind us of what is important? Who cares that it’s Earth Day? To be honest, I don’t. We treat it as though it should be something special, a day that we do something different. But it shouldn’t because every day should be like Earth Day. Since 1970, this day, 4/22, marks 46 years of the environemntal movement. But Earth Day is not encapsulated by numbers. It can not be. Today, as I walked back from class and took these photos, I listened to all different kinds of bird calls, each talking to one another across the trees and sky. Sun-bathing turtles slipped into the water of the creek as I approached, a gentle splash that rocked the smooth water. Near the end of my walk, a goose lay prone along my path, departed from this earth but still giving back. And there were people, so many people, relishing the muggy day. There was the rhythmatic slap of jump ropes that a group of friends laughed around. The dull thud of a baseball smacked into a patent leather glove in front of Funelle Hall. Joggers of all ages and sizes huffed past me. The world, for those short 20 minutes, was full of sounds, sights, textures, and smells of the harmony that planet Earth might be if we work hard enough. Everyday after today may not be as beautiful or as warm or as kind, but it is days like today that make the fight for a cleaner, more harmonious planet worth it. On this our Earth Day, for it is all of ours, I ask, no, plead with you, my dear reader, to fight that good fight. Fight against the unjust, vote for cleaner and better laws, make grander choices that might be small now, but could be huge in the future. Most importantly, speak for the trees. You and I can not do it alone, but together we can reach that harmony. On this our Earth Day, I ask that you to help me make Earth Day everyday.
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Oswego chapter.