“Every Earth Day is a reflection of where we are as a culture,” says independent documentary filmmaker Robert Stone in Leslie Kaufman’s New York Times article. As Earth Day turns 40, it still stands as a subtle reminder to reminisce about green living and ways to create a better future for ourselves and our children.

While the corporate world is anxiously working on green business strategies, I do my best to contribute to a healthy environment on a much smaller scale. Honestly. I turn off the computer when I leave work. I take short showers. I walk a lot. I don’t even own a car because I moved to the green city of Cambridge, MA. And on Earth Day, just like any other day, I start to think about clean energy, global warming, and Icelandic glaciers, and can’t help but wondering if this Earth Day really is a happy one.

Earth Day should be every day, but how do we make that work? We start with being good role models. And a such, we talk to our children about the importance of nature as Cynthia Jones suggests in Earth Day 2010, Talk To Your Kids About It! and come up with great initiatives like students teaching An Earth Day Recycling Lesson to children in New Brunswick or Kids Head to Work at Baltimore-area Offices learning to conserve landscapes and planting trees.

Reading about those initiatives, I discover the hope that I thought had left me. And then I remember again that it’s Earth Day. And like every day, I want to say: Happy Earth Day everyone!

– Anna