Earth Day 2022: Invest In Our Planet
April 20, 2022
Join us this Saturday, April 23, as we celebrate Earth Day in The Park with the City of Allentown! This free event, from noon to 4 p.m., will feature food, music, vendors, and family-friendly activities at the Allentown Arts Park, 24 N 5th St., Allentown.
LCA representatives will be on hand to answer your questions and educate the public about the value of clean water. We’ll share tips and resources to help you save water, reduce your water bill, and protect drinking water supplies.
Kids can receive a free coloring book with tips on how they can save water, too. And everyone is invited to play “Water Jeopardy!” — our very own, LCA-version of the popular game show featuring questions and answers about our favorite subject.
5 Decades of Environmental Activism
The first Earth Day, in 1970, was the culmination of years of concern about the environment. It led to the creation of both the modern-day environmental movement and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Allentown’s Earth Day in the Park was started in 2018 to “create awareness about environmental protection, while bringing community members together to celebrate Earth Day and have some fun!”
A ‘Green’ Investment
According to the official Earth Day website, this year’s theme is “Invest in Our Planet.”
“Now is the time for the unstoppable courage to preserve and protect our health, our families, our livelihoods … together, we must Invest In Our Planet,” the website states. “We need to act (boldly), innovate (broadly), and implement (equitably). It’s going to take all of us. All in. Businesses, governments, and citizens — everyone accounted for, and everyone accountable. A partnership for the planet.”
The site also points out that publicly supported, private-sector innovation “accelerates the kind of rapid change we need … And it pays. Studies show a direct correlation between sustainable business practices, share prices, and business performance.”
But Earth Day is also about individual choices — like avoiding products with plastic packaging when possible; recycling and composting to reduce trash sent to the landfill; conserving water; supporting “green” companies; decreasing your carbon footprint, and much more.
“We have the simple yet effective power to make our voices heard through our choices, our civic actions, and our personal interactions,” the website states. “What each of us does, and how we do it, has a huge ripple effect on our ecosystems, and on the pace of corporate and government action. … At a rally, a cleanup, with your vote, or your wallet, be heard however you are able.”
Taking Action
Ready to step up and do your part? Making effective, conservation-minded choices is easier than you think.
For starters, you can educate yourself about source water protection and find out how you’re part of the plan! We’ve created an interactive “story map” that details watersheds; the water sources LCA uses; our source water protection plan; and the ways in which you can keep source water clean. Click the link to learn more: www.lehighcountyauthority.org/source-water-protection/
If you’d like to participate in a cleanup, but aren’t sure where to start, The Morning Call has a roundup of observations and events planned across the region.
And finally, here are eight simple steps you can take to help the Earth today:
- Set a timer and limit showers to 5 minutes
- Turn off the tap while you’re brushing your teeth
- Flush only toilet paper and human waste
- Turn off the lights when you’re not in a room
- Use water barrels to collect rainwater for your gardens
- Plant trees
- Compost! (This is one of our favorite tips, because it reduces trash and adds nutrients to the garden, without the need for chemical fertilizers.)