The year 1970 brought the death of Jimi Hendrix, the last Beatles album, and the very first Earth Day! Founded as a means to promote a healthy and sustainable environment in the United States, Earth Day has since gone global and continues to enlist support from Republicans and Democrats, rich and poor, city dwellers and country folk, tycoons and laborers around the world.
Have you ever heard the saying, “every day is Earth Day?” It’s a wonderful sentiment and something that we at Woodard Properties strive to embody through our initiatives to go paperless (a huge undertaking!), our recycling endeavors, our participation in the C’ville Better Business Challenge, etc. In this fast-paced and hyper-stimulating age, however, it’s easy to lose our focus – even on something as vital as the health of our planet. Celebrating Earth Day is critically important in reminding us to maintain a healthy relationship with our environment and to consistently work toward a more sustainable community as a whole.
Students and Faculty at the University of Virginia decided that one day of celebrating our Earth wouldn’t be nearly enough, so instead of Earth Day the ‘Hoos are celebrating Earth Week! We took a stroll to the Amphitheater yesterday to check out the Eco Fair where we discovered several fascinating programs and organizations focused on sustainability – not just at UVA but throughout the Charlottesville community. The UVA Community Garden, Black Bear Composting, the UVA Food Collaborative, and the Cville Bike mApp Project are just a few of the programs we found particularly interesting.
So get outside this weekend, check out the many events sponsored by Sustainability at UVA or head to the C’ville Eco Fair at the Main Street Arena on Sunday, and direct some of that Spring-time energy into building a clean, healthy, and diverse world for many generations to come!