Today is considered Earth Day by many, an observance of environmental protection which started some 38 years ago. It wasn’t until I was 12 that I first heard of it.

The cause is noble, but the practice is lacking. Now, Earth Day is more a marketing ploy than a day of environmental activism. And really, much like you shouldn’t wait until Valentine’s Day to show someone how much you love them, you shouldn’t wait until Earth Day to do something about caring for the planet: recycling metal, plastic and paper; or replacing incandescent light bulbs with fluorescent ones; or other simple things that can have an impact over time.

I don’t think Earth Day is dead – it just needs some CPR.

drinkpeedrinkpeedrinkpee is a project about the role our bodies play in larger ecosystems. (via towleroad)

There are insomniacs in our homes that work late at night and run up the electricity bill. They are not the classically overworked American who pops melatonin or Tylenol PM. They are microwave ovens, computers and TVs.

More at Salon.com.

Whole Foods supermarkets plan to eliminate plastic bags at their stores by Earth Day, April 22, 2008. The initiative is called Bring Your Own Bag and encourages its shoppers to re-use whatever bags or other carriage vessels they have on hand. It kinda surprises me they didn’t do it sooner.

From Friday’s episode of “Real Time with Bill Maher,” Maher’s new rule on what fears should prioritized.

From Scientific American, a fascinating look at what might happen to the Earth — specifically in Manhattan it appears — if humans suddenly vanished.