Soleyon Insurance Partners
photo/Melanie Coleman
Earth Day is just around the corner, but many local environmental groups are treating it as just another day in their constant efforts to keep Seattle dazzling.
“Earth Day is a way to focus attention on an issue that’s important all-year round,” said Tara Smith, executive director at Seattle Works. “I would encourage people to think about Earth Day as the day they might do something special, but it really is just a way to gather momentum and create something more ongoing and more sustainable.”
Seattle Works is an organization that connects volunteers to areas and projects around the community in need of service, and Smith estimates that about a quarter of the work done throughout all of the programs enables people to impact their outdoor surroundings.
While the group doesn’t necessarily consider April 22 as a major initiative of the organization, it will host an event in honor of the occasion.
“We’re having an environmentally focused project on Friday afternoon from 2 to 5 [p. m.] for 25 people, and it’s already full,” Smith said Seattle Work’s plan for Earth Day 2011. “We’re definitely aware that that’s a way people are going to want to give back, and that’s a way we can connect people with the environment.”
First held on April 22, 1970, Earth Day began as a way to promote awareness and appreciation for the Earth’s natural environment. It has since taken an international stance and is celebrated by more than 175 countries every year.
Yet, for some, celebrating and caring for the environment merely once a year isn’t quite enough, and many green activists
. EARTH DAY, Page 13