Earth Day is coming up quickly, and it's time to prepare. April 22nd is when this spectacular event is happening, and there is plenty that your HOA can do to participate in an effort to better our environment and the Earth in general. Even doing a small part will contribute to a greater life for our families in the long run as we strive to protect, cleanse and renew our Earth. Since Earth Day was first started in 1970 as a protest against environmentally unfriendly practices, our country has come together every year since to celebrate life on Earth and do our best to actively help our environment.
Our local communities are where it begins when it comes to keeping our towns and cities green and clean. Starting within your neighborhoods and utilizing your HOA to do so is a wonderful way to bring your community together and celebrate our Earth. But where do you start? And what should you do? For that, we've come up with a few ideas to help you start your Earth Day HOA projects.
Host A Clean-Up
Humans, in general, are messy creatures. Sure, we do our best to clean up after ourselves, but there are others out there that don't care quite as much as we do. And it's evidenced by the litter that often clutters our streets, parks and beaches. So, gather your HOA together and host a clean up of a nearby park, river-way, highway, or other afflicted area. Gather the trash but be sure to separate recyclables so they don't get taken to the landfill. Also, be sure to wear protective gloves. Safety is always important, after all!
Plant A Tree
Trees are highly important to our ecosystem and decreasing our carbon footprint. Not only do they lessen the pollution in the air, but we need them to breathe, and we, as humans, are cutting down more and more every year.
As an HOA, organize a Tree Planting. Allow every member of your HOA to plant a tree in their yard in honor of Earth Day. You can research to find which trees do best in your specific area. Or, if you and your neighbors don't want to have the trees in your own yards, you can easily find Tree-Planting groups in urban areas by going to the Earth Day Network.
Education
You can always learn more about how you can protect our Earth and help cleanse the environment. As such, your HOA can host an Educational Talk. Invite specialists and professionals to talk about how we can better our environment. There are plenty of people out there that know how to "Go Green", makes more sustainable choices, reduce our carbon footprint, and do environmentally friendly projects. There are specialists that can teach about endangered species and how we can help to keep them from extinction. There is no end to the number of topics that you can find key speakers for and hosting a "Talk" can go a long way in contributing to our Earth. Education is the key to success and learning more about a topic is an easy way to help others aid the cause.
Earth Day is about coming together as a community to better our world as a whole. There is no easier way to do this than by getting the HOA involved and creating a community event to celebrate. With so many things to choose from, there's plenty of opportunities to go around. From cleaning our Earth, to planting new trees, to aiding in environmentally friendly studies through donations, or simply educating our neighbors and friends, we can do our best to create a world that is cleaner, friendlier, and will be here for years to come.
For more information and ideas on how to celebrate this Earth Day, visit the website Earthday.org.
Staff Writer
Camille Moore
