Go Green And Love Your Planet This Earth Day…With Apps, Of Course!
Today is the day we celebrate Earth, that third stone from the Sun, a little planet we still call our only home, the green and blue ball that keeps us close and with its loving gravity, the one we take for granted and casually litter every now and then. Now, at least for a day, let’s stop being the ignorant little planet stompers and let’s get to know a bit more about it, perhaps even teach our kids to be smarter and more loving inhabitants than us.
Get to Know It to Love It
How many of this globe have you seen, really? Sure you’ve taken geography and learned of many mountain chains and oceans and deserts and lands far far away- but what do they look like when they are not flattened and draped in the green-beige-and-brown pallete of a school map?
Luckily, our dear friend Google Earth has been everywhere and anywhere and is more than willing to share the beautiful imagery. Explore different nooks and corners of the Earth on its special day, fly over thousands of different landscapes and let you self fall in love with it again.
You can even get out that door, take a walk down your lane, to a local park or even venture into nature- now I know it is a very radical step, but you may feel better if you take your camera with you and do a panoramic photos you can upload to Google Maps so others get to know their environment through your lense.
Start Young
Got kids? If you do, I read to them as often as you can, and one of the books you might want to read this Earth Day is The Four Seasons. Every virtual page is filled with environmentally friendly lessons and actions, like helping trees grow, picking fruit or keeping the environment clean by picking up litter.
The story takes you through all four seasons of the year, explaining the cycle of life through a simple and colorful story. Let it serve as motivation- read it with your kids and then get you green thumbs on and go plant a tree or learn a bit about nature- in nature.
Play the Green Game
Sustainability and gamification are two words tossed around a lot lately, although one of them is practiced much more often. Joulebug combines both principles in an app aimed at making you and your friends greener and making you realize sustainable living isn’t all that hard.
For every little activity you do- and it may just be flipping off the lights- you’re rewardeed with points anda n inner sense of pride you just have to share with everyone on Twitter and Facebook. The app also shows you what impact that little action would have in a year if it became a habit.
We Are Not Alone
As we celebrate Earth day, the day of our planet, we should remember that it’s not exactly ours. As the species who got to the party late but managed to trash the venue all the same, we should use this sober moment to get to know the other planet dwellers, especially the ones that might soon be forever gone.
World Wild Life Fund Together app for iPad provides information on many different animal species, but also stresses the threats they face and efforts put into their conservation. Swiping through some beautiful imagery, you just might catch a green bug and feel a strong urge to get more involved- luckily for you, news and information about current WWF projects are there as well.
