How Can We Make Every Day Earth Day? (Sponsored)

Here are some family activities you can do to foster environmentalism. Sponsored by Sony.

Very few events are celebrated around the globe, but Earth Day is. This year, it’s come and gone. But we’re here to ask: What can we do to show our love of the earth on that day, and every day? On May 31, Sony will release After Earth, an action-packed movie that takes place 1,000 years after cataclysmic events forced humanity to leave. It’s the kind of scenario that makes you want to donate to Greenpeace, recycle everything, and start biking every where, immediately. So, in honor of Earth Day, Patch has teamed up with Sony to present these ideas for making every day Earth Day. How can we make every day Earth Day? Begin with little things. Easy things. Obvious things. Things we take for granted each day, and use and/or abuse because of …

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Perry Hall Mansion Friends Plant Tree, Clean Up

Community members celebrated Earth Day and Arbor Day at the historic Perry Hall Mansion.

Members of the Perry Hall community gathered to commemorate both Earth Day and Arbor Day at the historic Perry Hall Mansion on Sunday. Volunteers helped clean up the four-acre mansion grounds, pruned bushes, pulled weeds, and removed stray brush and debris from the property. The Friends of Perry Hall Mansion provided water and lunch. The highlight of the event was the planting of a redbud tree, donated by State Sen. Kathy Klausmeier. Baltimore County Councilman David Marks and State Del. John Cluster were also on hand for this spring celebration and volunteer activity.  The Friends hope the planting of new trees can serve as an annual commemoration of both Earth Day and Arbor Day in Perry Hall. How would you like to see the mansion used by…

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PHOTOS: Perry Hall 3rd-Graders Celebrate Earth Day

Students at Perry Hall Elementary planted seeds and decorated T-shirts on Wednesday.

If you ask Jake Hutchins why it's important to recycle, he tells you: "So we can help the earth and not like fill up landfills." The third-grader spent much of Wednesday morning decorating a T-shirt and planting seeds with the help of his teacher, Melissa Foy, at Perry Hall Elementary. "Between science, social studies and health units, we're trying to raise environmental awareness," Foy said. While all third-graders in the school decorated T-shirts with paintings of the earth and slogans like "don't litter," Foy's was the only class to plant seeds. Most of the materials for the planting were donated by Miracle-Gro, she said. "It's important for the kids to understand that it's up to them to keep the earth clean," Foy said. What does your …

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The Spirit of Community

UPDATE: Celebrate Earth Day at the Perry Hall Mansion

Tree planting and grounds cleaning will be held at the Perry Hall Mansion on April 22.

In honor of Earth Day 2012, on Sunday, April 22, the Friends of Perry Hall Mansion will host a special community service opportunity for all interested volunteers. Starting at 1 p.m. and continuing until 6 p.m., Friends members will work side by side with volunteers to conduct a comprehensive spring cleaning of the 4-acre grounds surrounding the historic Perry Hall Mansion at 3930 Perry Hall Rd. They plan to collect brush and debris, prune and trim shrubs and trees and cut the grass. A highlight of the event will be a special tree planting ceremony, in commemoration of both Earth Day and Arbor Day, which will fall on April 27. Lunch and light refreshments will be available for all attendees, in addition to raffle prizes and other …

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For Greener Planet, Start with Greener Home

The air in our homes can be filled with toxins from everyday consumer products. With so many organic alternatives available today, stock your cabinets with green cleaners, soaps and detergents.

With Earth Day upon us, you may be kicking yourself for not planting a tree, cleaning a stream or biking to work. But, really, if you want an environment to save, go no further than your front door. As Towson author McKay Jenkins writes in his latest book, What’s Gotten Into Us: Staying Healthy in a Toxic World (Random House), “The EPA has warned that indoor air pollution can be two to ten times worse than outdoor pollution.” To help make the world outside our homes greener, we might want to start inside our homes. The products in our basements, bathrooms, kitchens, closests and toy chests are spring-loaded with chemicals whose effects—especially in aggregate and over decades of exposure—are not fully known. With so many organic products …

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