What if you could take a little time from your workday to make something beautiful? Staff from Planet Aid's Elkridge, Maryland and Milford, Massachusetts textile reuse facilities had the opportunity to do just that during its Annual Earth Day Clean-up. It may seem like a relatively small step, but working together, Planet Aid's Maryland team filled up a cart with trash from the nearby train tracks to the creek, bordering bushes and sidewalks. The trash varied from discarded paper, plastic, metal, bottles, and boards, among other items.
Since Earth is our only home, it is possible to forget that it is a living, breathing entity. Our planet is a haven for eight major ecosystems with delicate intricate balances to be observed and respected. These ecosystems include very distinctive plants and trees and beings as big as whales and as small as ladybugs. Human beings fit somewhere in between that spectrum, yet humans are almost solely responsible for Earth's negative environmental impacts. Pollution of land, air, and water has major consequences, and that's why it is infinitely consequential to be good stewards of the earth daily.
Before Planet Aid's Elkridge, Maryland Earth Day Clean-up began, CEO, Fred Olsson remarked to an employee, "Earth Day is every day."
Acknowledging Earth Day is a day-to-day choice. It is indeed important to acknowledge the day because it highlights environmental concerns and sustainable solutions. Nonetheless, Earth Day wouldn't be necessary if adopting a daily consciousness of reducing, reusing, repairing, repurposing, conserving, and lowering our individual carbon imprint was just the norm.
The Annual Earth Day Clean-up provided a time for Planet Aid's Maryland staff to volunteer a portion of their work day to the common goal of restoring and beautifying the area. Within thirty minutes of the clean-up, the staff's combined effort led to 327 pounds of trash being removed from the grounds.
A little effort certainly does go a long way.
On Saturday, April 27 our Milford, Massachusetts Planet Aid team, along with family and friends, joined over 150 volunteers to participate in the Milford Beautification Day. The event was sponsored by Citizens for Milford, a nonpartisan grassroots organization that works with town entities and other community groups to carry out projects and events that encourage active citizen participation.
Planet Aid's mission has always been in support of locally-led, community-driven initiatives for the improvement of people and the planet. Moreover, Planet Aid's participation provided an opportunity to beautify an area that has been home to our corporate headquarters for over two decades. The Milford Beautification Day was a natural fit to work in our backyard with neighbors from our community.
Citizens for Milford cited this year's beautification day as their most successful, so we congratulate them for a job well done.
As we close the book on this Earth Month, our CEO's words inspire us to treat every day as Earth Day, extending beyond our work of collecting clothes and backing global development projects. This challenge lies in our dedication to achieving daily sustainable victories, both big and small.