Earth Day is an annual day celebrated on April 22nd where people around the world recognize the Earth and all of its beauty that it has to offer. Not only this, but many people also attempt to spread awareness of the harms that we humans do to the Earth on an everyday basis in hopes to eliminate the use of these harmful products. Earth Day is said to be one of the days with the most civic participation on a global scale! It is completely amazing to see just how many people are truly willing to make the change that we wish to see in this world for a better tomorrow.

Many clubs, council, and communities gather as one to clean the environment in attempt to make the world a cleaner place one person at a time. Beach cleanups are a very popular action taken on this day, especially here in Florida. Not to mention, various people take action on this day by protesting against the use of one of the most prominent items that humans use causing harm to the environment: Plastic. Big or small, change is good, and allows us to truly open our eyes to the harms we have created thus far.

Globally, many people have noticed the harmful effects that everyday items, such as plastic bags, have on the environment. Plastic bags take hundreds of years to fully decompose while burning it can release harmful chemicals into the atmosphere. For this reason, an abundance of stores have now offered the option of bringing reusable bags while shopping in order to avoid the excessive use of plastic. Aldi, a local grocery store, has completely turned away from plastic bags, requiring their customers to bring their own reusable bag or to not have one at all! This small change allows us to be one step closer to a more sustainable environment.

Senior Eileen Valentin mentions “Earth Day is important because it’s one of the few days where people realize environmental issues and become aware of actions we need to take together in order to protect our precious Earth.”

“We should make earth day everyday. We really only have one planet to survive on and if we don’t take care of it, the human race will never be able to continue thriving.” Said Ms. Matuella.