Schools and the US Congress are Back In Session
Congressional lawmakers are coming back from their summer break with a whole lot of homework! With rising rates of childhood obesity, and falling test scores in reading and math, we need to pass comprehensive environmental education legislation that will make our children healthier and improve academic results. Back in June we got one step closer to ensuring environmental education for children in the United States, when the House Education Committee passed the No Child Left Inside Act. Now we have another chance: the Act is expected to come to the House floor next week, and it looks like it will be a close vote. We need your help to persuade undecided representatives to support No Child Left Inside. Please send a letter to your representative, especially if he or she is on this list, and demand that they take a stand and vote to provide environmental education for all our children. Check out more of EDN's policy initiatives here.
Take our Ecological Footprint quiz!
It's finally here! We have just launched our new Ecological Footprint Calculator. Start right now by creating a three-dimensional avatar of your choosing, and tour your virtual neighborhood while answering questions about your lifestyle. The Footprint Calculator will tell you how many "planets" would be necessary to sustain human life- if everyone lived just like you, as well as how many acres of land and tons of carbon it takes to support your lifestyle. You can even revisit your quiz to see where you "went wrong", and find out how to reduce your carbon footprint. If you are a teacher or professor, encourage your students to take the quiz and experiment with the answers. The Footprint is starting to make waves in the media; the Seattle Journal of Commerce and The Daily Green are raving about it.
EDN helps our partners monitor water quality
There is no more basic human need than clean drinking water. As part of our efforts to bring clean water and sanitation to the world, Earth Day Network will distribute one hundred water monitoring kits donated by the World Environment Federation among our international partners in developing countries. This campaign kicks off on World Water Monitoring Day, September 18, 2008. Earth Day Network is an official partner of this critical observance.
Don't forget to help a village plagued by inadequate water supplies and poor sanitation: donate to the Adopt a Water Project on our Global Water Network. Every donation goes directly to the water project of your choosing, providing safe water and sanitation to an area of the world that needs it most. As little as $10 or $25 can ensure at least one person lives a better life. Feeling ambitious? Bring together a class, a team, or a church group to make a larger donation. New maps showing different rates of water poverty and distribution are featured now.
NEW on Earth Day TV!
Have you ever wondered what the impacts of population are on the planet? Find the answers in our interview with Robert Engelman of the Worldwatch Institute, author of "More: Population, Nature, and What Women Want." Also, Congressman Jay Inslee (D-WA) and Center for American Progress fellow Bracken Hendricks discuss their book "Apollo's Fire" and explain their recipe for an energy independent, carbon-free future. Watch both interviews in the Authors Channel on Earth Day TV.