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MCC Daily Tribune

Green Tip: Take Action for Earth Day

Friday April 22 is Earth Day 2022. The first Earth Day was created by U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson as a nationwide environmental teach-in, drawing more than 20 million people in the US. Since then it has become an annual international event to demonstrate support for environmental protection.

Take action in your community:

  • World-wide Earth Day events are coordinated and listed on the EarthDay.org  site.
  • Monroe County is hosting its 12th Annual Pick up the Parks event on Saturday, April 23 from 9am-NOON.
  • Rochester Public Library  (Central Library at 115 South Ave, Children’s Center) is hosting an event to make your own upcycled bookmarks to celebrate Earth Day on Saturday April 23 from 1pm-4pm. Choose pages from provided books and use our Ellison machine to cut out bookmark pages, and then use string and beads to create a personalized bookmark!  For more information, please call the Children’s Center at 428-8150.

Take action at home:

Join Meatless Monday (a global movement that encourages people to reduce meat in their diet for their health and the health of the planet) by eating a plant-based diet on Earth Day, or better yet, every Monday!  Here is some information to chew on from Meatless Monday, produced with their scientific partners at Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future.

  • Eating more plant-based foods is one of the most effective actions individuals in countries with high meat consumption can take to reduce the world’s eco-footprint.
  • Swapping out red meat and dairy one day a week for plant-based foods reduces climate change causing emissions more than eating locally every day.
  • The meat industry is the most significant driver of deforestation.
  • Livestock production uses 75% of the Earth’s agricultural land. Eating a more plant-based diet could decrease agricultural land use by 80%.
  • Eating a more plant-based diet could decrease agricultural water use by 50%.  If everyone in New York City chose a (soy) veggie burger instead of a ¼ lb. beef burger for Meatless Monday, it would save enough water to fill 79 million bathtubs.
  • Plant-based dietary shifts would benefit soil health and improve biodiversity.
  • Livestock production creates more greenhouse gases than the entire transportation sector – all the cars, trucks, planes, and trains in the world – combined. If everyone in New York City chose a (soy) veggie burger instead of a ¼ lb. beef burger for Meatless Monday, it would save the equivalent CO2 emissions from charging 2.6 billion smartphones.

Ann Penwarden
Sustainability Steering Committee
04/19/2022