Organize Your Own Event!

It’s not too late to organize your own Earth Day event, says Earth Day Network spokesperson Michelle Ackermann. Need ideas? Organize a tree-planting project in your neighborhood. Arrange for a native-plant display at your school. Present a slide show on energy issues to groups in your area. The Union of Concerned Scientists (617-547-5552) offers two slides shows, complete with scripts. Or maybe set up an Earth Day exhibit at your church or library.

If water pollution is a dire issue in your community, adopt a local river or stream to protect it from pollution or development; for help, try the Save Our Streams program at the Izaak Walton League of America (800-284-4952). Better yet, organize a water-quality monitoring project for a local waterway. An easy-to-use water monitoring kit is available from the Global Rivers Environmental Education Network (734-761-814); order online at www.earthforce.org/green.

Whatever your pressing issue, the national clearinghouse for support and ideas is Seattle-based Earth Day Network. Through the network, for instance, 75,000 teachers have obtained free “Earth Day Education Program” materials for kindergarten through 12th grades. Visit the network online at www.earthday.net.