Every day is Earth Day

April 22, World Earth Day is here again, reminding us that we have responsibilities beyond our own houses. It is this the day when we should express our special gratitude to our Planet Earth, which supports all forms of life.

It became a tradition now that on the Earth Day many citizens, children, youngsters and elders dedicate some of their time to plant a tree, clean up a public area, inaugurate a garden or  participate in events designed to raise citizen s awareness on the environmental issues.

40 years have already passed since the first day the Earth Day was celebrated. On 22 April 1970, 20 million people joined in one of the largest public manifestations in history, with a view of giving voice to their concern about the environmental situation at the time, and to show their support in Earth defense.

Since that time, Earth Day challenges us to take seriously our job as guardians of the natural environment. It inspires us to think beyond our survival - to act on behalf of this planet that we share together with all of its other residents. If Earth Day makes us think on how to make to make it possible to breathe clean air and drink unpolluted water or live in a save environment,
then it has fulfilled its mission. If Earth Day gets up to worry about the environmental protection, nature and biodiversity, usage of natural resources then it has served its goal.

This year Earth Day in Tirana, Albania was celebrated in a small street covered in red slabs with the name of the Albanian hero -Ismail Qamali-, with a collaboration of  EDEN Cemter, Municipality of Tirana, Embassy of Kingdom of Netherlands and UNICEF under the slogan -Take care of me! – Every day is Earth Day-.

The event was opened by the children of the elementary schools who made a parade with recycled materials that were prepared by them. Other pupils walked in parades while exposing the posters with messages and logo awareness, as well as parades with textile bags of painted by the children themselves.

In this 40th year celebration of the Earth Day children promoted positive attitudes toward environmental protection and enhanced the future challenges for each of us. Part of the activity was also showing the handmade artworks that the children of different schools of Tirana did  in the framework of the project CLEEN as well as the promotional materials for waste reduction within the campaign, - Act Now! -
 Increasing individual responsibility is the key to move from awareness toward action. This will bring man closer and in balance with nature. Regardless the role we have in the society: citizen or consumer, producer or promoter, court decision, we all have a common role to play

In conclusion, it should be recalled that the protection of the environment is a process and not an end. Self-amusement should never be an option valuable when dealing with the protection of the basic elements of our lives. So we have to act now! There is not time to wait no longer, each day spent is a day lost on the aim of reaching the natural balance.