Earth Day

Earth Day 2021

Apr 23, 2021

In adulthood, many holidays — Easter and Valentine's Day, for example — have lost the luster I saw in them as a kid. Not due to a lack of sweet tooth (I still have that!), but a consequence of becoming aware of the undercurrents of such holidays: commercialism, materialism, and consumption for corporate gain.

Earth Day, however, is an exception. The glow of Earth Day, Earth Week, and Earth Month has perennially shined brighter in my eyes. 🤩

Nowadays, adult Tim is as excited on Earth Day morning as child Tim was on Easter morning when he woke to search for a basket of candy accompanied by either a pair of socks or a cool t-shirt, which was hidden somewhere in the house.

Earth Day Every Day

Since the first Earth Day in 1970, the occasion has been about environmental activism, action, and community. EarthWeek1970.org offers a thorough history of the movement’s roots, and Earthday.org shows what people are doing today, this month, and throughout the year between Earth Days.

For me, Earth Day is also about honoring and celebrating Mother Earth.

At this time last year, I undertook a project called Earth Day Every Day. From April 23 to May 19, I picked a particular aspect of nature (e.g., ants, fungi, sagebrush), researched and reflected on it, and shared my findings and reflections through a written journal entry and a video. The project even inspired community members to submit their own Earth Day celebrations.

As part of your Earth Day 2021 celebration, I invite you to check out my videos from Earth Day Every Day 2020 and consider your own Earth Day Every Day celebration — you can do it any day of the year.

Action ⟶ Progress

For Earth Day 2021, I’m focusing on climate communication and policy.

Just this morning, all of this happened:

Joe Biden hosted a virtual climate summit of nations and committed the US to cutting its emissions in half by 2030—an aggressive and achievable goal scientists say is necessary.
Greta Thunberg testified to the US House of Representatives and told them that the government’s practice of subsidizing fossil fuel companies with our taxes is a “disgrace”.
The US House passed a bill to grant Washington, DC, statehood. If (and that’s a big “if”) this passes the Senate and is ultimately approved, a majority of Congress could be willing to act on the climate crisis, opening new possibilities for climate policy.

🌍 Climate action

Actions and resources for good Earth stewardship.

✅ Become an Earth Day member with me.

✅ Support Moses Arineitwe (the Pangolin Man) and help him save pangolins in Uganda.

✅ Support the Kuril Islands Research & Conservation Initiative, which you can learn more about in this inspiring and beautiful documentary.

* Remember, it’s ok if you can’t donate. You can take action in other ways. I’ll highlight non-monetary climate action options as much as possible.

🤝 Allyship

Opportunities to be a good ally to BIPOC folks.

On April 28, tune into On Environmental Racism, Climate Change, and Pathways to Justice with Gopal Dayaneni and Carla Maria Pérez (of Movement Generation), hosted by the California Institute of Integrative Studies.

Sometimes, we just need to sit quietly and listen actively. If we listen to Gopal and Carla’s voices in this session, we’ll hear:

“a powerful conversation exploring the connections between environmental racism and climate change and what we can do as individuals and communities to address and heal from the harms of both.”

🕯️ Meditative moments

Add some calm to your day.

I recently heard Dr. Katherine Wilkinson speak. In her talk, she acknowledged how poetry contrasts with the content we typically consume throughout our days—news, facts, figures, etc. She suggested that reading a poem amid all the other stuff can allow our brains to shift into a different mode. This idea resonated with me, and I thought it might with you, too. Here’s a poem for Earth Day:

To be of use by Marge Piercy

The people I love the best
jump into work head first
without dallying in the shallows
and swim off with sure strokes almost out of sight.
They seem to become natives of that element,
the black sleek heads of seals
bouncing like half-submerged balls.
I love people who harness themselves, an ox to a heavy cart,
who pull like water buffalo, with massive patience,
who strain in the mud and the muck to move things forward,
who do what has to be done, again and again.
I want to be with people who submerge
in the task, who go into the fields to harvest
and work in a row and pass the bags along,
who are not parlor generals and field deserters
but move in a common rhythm
when the food must come in or the fire be put out.
The work of the world is common as mud.
Botched, it smears the hands, crumbles to dust.
But the thing worth doing well done
has a shape that satisfies, clean and evident.
Greek amphoras for wine or oil,
Hopi vases that held corn, are put in museums
but you know they were made to be used.
The pitcher cries for water to carry
and a person for work that is real.

[I found this poem in All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis — an anthology by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Dr Katherine Wilkinson.]

▶️ Now Playing

Books, music, film, pods, etc.

🎶 No More Pipeline Blues (On this Land Where We Belong) — special release for Earth Day 2021, from an amazing cast of talented people, including several Indigenous Women Artists. It's a touching song and beautiful video. If you purchase a copy on Bandcamp, all proceeds go to Honor the Earth and the Water Protector movement.

🎥 Cries of Our Ancestors — an independent film about the coexistence and relationship between humans and chimpanzees, centered in Guinea. We found this touching film through the Wild and Scenic Film Festival, which I also recommend.

📗 The Future Earth: A Radical Vision for What's Possible in the Age of Warming — a book by Eric Holthaus that invites readers to envision the beautiful future that’s possible if we change our ways while recognizing the grim future that’s guaranteed if we stay on our current track.

That’s all for our April 2021 edition of the newsletter.

I hope you all have a lovely Earth Day…Every Day.

Yours truly,

✌️💚

Tim Falls

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