It's bEARTHday

 

Today is Earth Day.  It's also the day of my birth.  For those of you who are not aware of Earth Day, it was a grass roots environmental movement, first celebrated 53 years ago today.  Although every day should be Earth Day, this is the day we celebrate and show our respect for the earth. It's the day we call attention to all the "R" words like recycle, recover, rethink, re-invent, repurpose, remake, redesign, reuse, reclaim, and recraft, while we reduce waste going to our landfills and recycle centers.  

In case you have lived under a rock most of your life and have never heard of Earth Day, the first person to propose, create, and found it was John McConnell.  Originally, the date of the first Earth Day was to be the first day of spring, March 21, 1970.  However, many of us in the states know that Gaylord Nelson, the senator and environmentalist from Wisconsin is considered to be the founder of Earth Day.  Originally scheduled to be a "teach in," it became so much more.  The date was set for April 22, 1970 and Earth Day is now celebrated on that same day every year.  

The first Earth Day and the next 20 years were focused in the states.  However, in 1990, Earth Day went International.  In case you still don't know what Earth Day is all about, here is what I pulled from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) web site: 

It may be hard to imagine that before 1970, a factory could spew black clouds of toxic smoke into the air or dump tons of toxic waste into a nearby stream, and that was perfectly legal. They could not be taken to court to stop it.

How was that possible? Because there was no EPA, no Clean Air Act, no Clean Water Act. There were no legal or regulatory mechanisms to protect our environment.

Granted, that is hard to believe, because today laws are in place to protect our environment.  There are also groups who work to reduce the amount of waste that people produce, and increase the amount that we recycle and reuse.

Now let's celebrate with a spread in my journal.  Of course, it is also for Art Journal Journey, where Bleubeard and I are hosting this month.  Let's reduce, recycle, and reuse, as I did in this spread.

These are all Leftovers from other projects or from my leftover basket.

There are detail shots, too.

A hodge - podge of disparate items were sewn with new thread to a sheet of cardstock, the only other thing not recycled.

Thanks for joining Bleubeard and me (Dr. E, Queen of Free) as we celebrate bEARTHday in style at Art Journal Journey and with the world.