Cover story, continued ... EARTH DAY April 22 is now designated Earth Day. The holiday started in 1970 when Senator Gaylord Anton Nelson saw the need to address the worsening condition of the environment after witnessing a large oil spill in Santa Barbara, California, in 1969. After the devastating effects of the spill, he became determined to do something about it. His goal was to
WAYS TO CELEBRATE Ready to pitch in and help save the Earth? There are plenty of ways to volunteer your time. Help an environmental group plant trees. Organize a group of friends and neighbors to clean up a park or river. Offer your time to a local garden. Not only will you learn about nature and how to preserve it, you’ll also help your community! Environmentalism isn’t just for April, of course — you can take simple steps to help save the Earth all year long. Bicycle or walk to work. Recycle plastics, paper, and other reclaimable material. If nothing else, simply take time out of your busy life to enjoy nature. Take a walk in the park, and pick up litter along the way. Taking small steps to ensure a healthier environment inspires others to do the same. It might not seem like much, but these measures will add up to a more sustainable Earth. We’re all connected, and we’re all responsible for preserving the planet we live on.
educate the public about the fragility of the environment and the importance of taking care of the planet. Nelson sought help from environmental advocate Denis Hayes and U.S. Representative Pete McCloskey to start the movement. On April 20, 1970, approximately 20 million people across America flooded streets and parks to protest pollution and push for a healthier environment. It was after this movement that several environmental groups unified with one goal: to keep the Earth healthy. This movement also helped create laws such as the Clean Air Act, the Water Quality Improvement Act, and the Endangered Species Act. In 1990, Earth Day went global. According to the website Live Science, around 200 million people from 141 countries participated. The numbers grew in 2000, expanding to 184 countries and 5,000 environmental groups. More than one billion people worldwide now observe Earth Day each year.
about her selective social media use. If you’re not mindful of your media consumption and participation, it tends to pile up. When you detox, it’s a lot easier to identify which parts of your media diet are essential and which are only a burden. Another benefit of a media detox is that you’ll have more time to pursue new and dormant hobbies. Because most of us consume media in small chunks throughout the day, it’s easy to overlook howmuch that time adds up. All those hours you spend on Facebook could be used to start a garden, knit a quilt, or join a soccer league. Unless you have an unlimited supply of leisure time (and who does?), you need to be selective in the way you spend it. Remember, media isn’t the cause of all your ills. Used mindfully, it can actually increase happiness and satisfaction. The problem is that we are so mired in the media muck that we can’t get a perspective on how much is too much. A detox will allow you to reassess the media you’re consuming and build a better plan for the future. You can still keep up with your grandkids on Facebook, but it shouldn’t be the only way you interact with the world. Do You Need a Media Detox? The Dangers of Overstimulation
With the current trend of getting TV, social media, and news alerts sent to our phones, we have access to more media than we could ever consume. While constant connectivity is a boon for many aspects of our lives, researchers are discovering that too much stimulation is cause for concern. One study in the Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology found that too much social comparison, spurred by the likes of Facebook and cable news, can lead to an increased risk of depression. If you find yourself pressured to live up to the public lives of friends and family, or if you feel like you’re being bombarded with too much news and entertainment, consider a media detox. A detox doesn’t require you to unsubscribe from social media services or unplug your TV forever. Instead, think of it as a vacation from the overstimulation so many of us experience. Ask yourself which aspects of your media diet are causing more stress than they’re worth, and take a break from them for a little while. “In the same way we think about what we eat, we should think about what we read, what we’re seeing, what we’re engaging in, and what we’re interacting with every day,”EmmaWatson told CNN in an interview
2 • www.thesotolawgroup.com
Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs