Earth Day Every Day: Earth Defenders unite

White Violet Center for Eco-Justice has been celebrating Earth Day all month. This last week of April, we are focusing on “community.” Community is defined as:

• A group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common, and
• A feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests and goals.

As members of the human species, we are part of many communities. But at the same time, we all are part of one very important community: The Earth Community. So this week, we are excited to highlight those in our local area that fit both definitions of the word community. 

We have a large network of organizations here in the Wabash Valley and beyond, that works hard each and every day promoting change and awareness. The organizations work to bring about a more sustainable way of life and restore the Earth in many different ways including planting trees, saving wetlands, cleaning up trash, recycling, removing invasive species and helping people commit to using less plastic and packaging. 

Since 1998 — with the exception of 2020 and 2021 — White Violet Center for Eco-Justice has been hosting an Earth Day celebration at Saint-Mary-of-the-Woods, allowing these organizations to come together with the public to celebrate the place we call home and highlight the efforts we all can do to protect and restore our Earth. This feeling of unity connects us and strengthens our resolve. It provides all of us with encouragement and hope.

Although we are not able to have our normal Earth Day celebration again this year, we want to take this week to highlight and celebrate some of our Earth Day partners in our community and give them the opportunity to share their stories about the exciting things they are doing and other helpful tips they have. These are just a few and we know there are so many more. We celebrate all of their efforts and we recognize that it is made up of caring individuals that feel passionately about what they are doing and want to help others to do the same.

All over the country and across the globe, there are numerous organizations to which you can volunteer your time, money or other resources. Even helping share awareness of their goals and missions helps. These organizations rely on aid and support to continue creating healthier communities for all us to live in. It starts local but when all of us unite in our own communities we will start to see the difference spread across the planet.