Roll Up Your Sleeves and Have Fun!
by Lina Younes
How many times do you want to do something special on the weekend to enjoy the great outdoors? How many times do you want to volunteer to give back to the community? How often do you look for special outings where the entire family can have some fun while enjoying the fresh air? Well, this Saturday, September 25th, there will be numerous opportunities throughout the country, including Puerto Rico, to volunteer. There are two major events, National Public Lands Day (NPLD) and International Coastal Cleanup Day (ICC) taking place at a park or waterfront near you, I’m not talking exclusively about big expansive lands with majestic vistas. These public lands can be at an urban park in your very neighborhood.
This year, EPA will be joining forces with the National Environmental Education Foundation to encourage employees to volunteer for these park cleanups and plant some trees. For those of us living the Washington metropolitan area we will have an added bonus. Administrator Lisa P. Jackson will be joining us this Saturday morning at Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens in Washington, DC. I had been meaning to go to this park for quite some time, but never actually ventured there. Now I will have a chance to roll up my sleeves and have some fun doing something positive for the environment.
Also this Saturday, not far from Kenilworth Park, some of my colleagues will be volunteering at another event in Anacostia as part of the International Coastal Cleanup Day effort. For that occasion, EPA will be partnering with the Ocean Conservancy to remove debris from our waterways. We urge you to search both sites to find events where you can take the whole family.
Coincidentally, yesterday I attended a meeting on environmental education where EPA’s Deputy Administrator Bob Perciasepe spoke about the importance of hands-on activities to instill the values of environmental stewardship and conservation among our youth. I would like to share the quote with you: “I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.” Hopefully these volunteer events this weekend will serve as opportunities to make our children environmentally responsible citizens at an early age
About the author: Lina Younes has been working for EPA since 2002 and chairs EPA’s Multilingual Communications Task Force. Prior to joining EPA, she was the Washington bureau chief for two Puerto Rican newspapers and she has worked for several government agencies.
Editor’s Note: The opinions expressed in Greenversations are those of the author. They do not reflect EPA policy, endorsement, or action, and EPA does not verify the accuracy or science of the contents of the blog.
Editor's Note: The opinions expressed in Greenversations are those of the author. They do not reflect EPA policy, endorsement, or action, and EPA does not verify the accuracy or science of the contents of the blog.
We need world events “Environmental Week” are saving the water, air pollution, coastal cleanup, clean energy, human health, etc. full a week and all nations – people around the world. All offices closed but the activities only “Environmental Week”. Not plane, not ship, not car and all the engines. Introspection, autocritics and retrospection….
Let’s just start with America first ..and make a commited effort !
This is a great article! Every helping hand makes a difference. If you want to check out more volunteer events in the LA region and learn how to prevent stormwater pollution check out our calendar at http://www.lastormwater.info/.
i think this all great…
not everyone would be Happy for that there are many people against that.. so i disagree with u
i dont care get a life
I agree with what “armasynahardanis” says, I think we do need world events. We should have days where everyone cleans up. Like if it were a national holiday.
well i highly appreciate the fact that this year, EPA will be joining forces with the National Environmental Education Foundation to encourage employees to volunteer for these park cleanups and plant some trees and stuff.
I also agree and i think this is all great.
The City of Mission Viejo will be doing the fall clean up of the Oso Creek Trail. Last year we did it and collected two large trailer loads of trash. A lot was things people could have recycled like paper drink cups, plastic water bottles and some metal cans. And there is a recycling station just off the trail behind a grocery store. We are thinking of asking our Public Works Department to post signs at different points on the trail letting people know where the recycling station is and that they should turn their plastic water bottles and paper cups in there instead of tossing them into the creek, on the creek bank, the trail path, or nearby gutters where they can enter the creek through the storm drains. Best wishes, Michael E. Bailey.
Government should provide more repayment for low carbon transportation method such as the bicycle, big bus.
Government should provide more bonus on replacement of energy saving products. Such as solar system, Wind turbine, heat pumps.
Economical method is the best way to encourage people to pay attention to the energy saving products such as heat pump.
Sometimes I spend free time for things that are less important, but even if we vacation, we should consider doing is beneficial.
Sometimes I spend free time for things that are less important, but even if we vacation, we should consider doing is beneficial.
Sometimes I spend free time for things that are less important, but even if we vacation, we should consider doing is beneficial.