Today, April 22, is Earth Day.

If you have not yet heard of Earth Day, it is an annual commemoration of the birth of the modern environmental movement in 1970 and it ‘has inspired and mobilized individuals and organizations worldwide to demonstrate their commitment to environmental protection and sustainability.’

Students celebrate Earth Day by hugging a tree. Photo courtesy of Flickr/snre

Now, 41 years later, the Earth Day theme is A Billion Acts of Green, a ‘people-powered campaign to generate a billion acts of environmental service and advocacy.’

It calls upon anyone and everyone to declare an act of green and/or start or participate in an Earth Day event.

In this spirit, for the past several weeks The Travel Word has been focusing on the incredible earth-conscious acts of the many conscientious people part of the WHL Group family.

Following yesterday’s blog post sharing our favourite Earth Day videos, and as part of our online Earth Day push to spotlight acts of environmental generosity and sensitivity that could add to the tally of global efforts, we would like again to call attention to a few of them here just from the last month.

+ The theme of The Travel World newsletter for April was biodiversity. In it, we first lamented our world in which the species extinction rate is higher than it has ever been, but then called upon everyone to be part of the solution to species extinction rather than part of the problem. We also looked at

• our Top Five Ways to Experience Biodiversity Hotspots while showing respect for the fragile flora and fauna
• Eco Etiquette for Travelling in the Galapagos
• Brilliant Butterflies in the Kingdom of Bhutan
• the Last Ecological Frontier of Palawan, Philippines
• the Coastal Ecosystems of Paraná, Brazil
• the Benefits of Ecotourism for Children.

+ We have also highlighted efforts to Counter Invasive Coral in Ilha Grande, Brazil.

+ We have profiled some of the ‘green’ local partners of Green Path Transfers, a new global provider of eco-friendly airport transfers and ground transportation.

+ We celebrated Earth Hour 2011.

There is, of course, so much more!

But these are just a few of the millions of stories out there, stories we hope you will share throughout the day today. The goal is to inspire those around you. And to help make our fragile planet more vital tomorrow than it is today.

Happy Earth Day!

Ethan Gelber

For more than 20 years, Ethan Gelber has devoted himself to a somewhat baffling diversity of projects, most associated with writing/editing, cross-cultural communication and education, travel, bicycling and the arts. At present, he manages media and communications for the WHL Group, oversees The Travel Word (this very blog) and helped initiate the Local Travel Movement.

Other posts by Ethan:

• The Old Travel Show Is Dead, Long Live the New York Travel Festival
• A Perfect Day in Sydney: Travelling Like a Local
• A Wakeup Call for a Healthier Year: Responsible Travel Week 2013

View a full list of posts by Ethan.
Read more about +Ethan

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This entry was posted on Friday, April 22nd, 2011 at 2:00 am and is filed under the following categories: