Earth Day 2006
Honoring our Home, Planet Earth

Resources for Children, Youth, Families, and Religious Educators

Earth Day & Global Warming: Frequently Asked Questions and Resources

What is global warming?

• Children and youth can…
  • Visit the Global Warming Kids Site . It explains the causes and effects of global warming along with explanations of the greenhouse effect and the global climate system as well as ways to reduce global warming. A glossary of environmental terms, online games, and links to other sites especially for children are included.
     
• Families and religious educators can…
  • Explore the EPA Global Warming Kids Site  and the Personal Greenhouse Gas Calculator , a tool for figuring out household greenhouse gas emissions. Find out how to reduce emissions while lowering energy and waste disposal costs.
  • The Global Warming Wheel Card  s hows how much carbon dioxide is produced by day-to-day activities, and how much emissions can be reduced by changes in behavior.
  • Find out about the potential impact of global warming or climate change in your State with Global Warming Where You Live . Click on a State and find out how much temperatures have increased and precipitation has decreased in the last century and what's expected for the next century. Find out how this will affect people's health, the availability of water, growing food crops, and more.

What causes Global Warming?

• Children and youth can…
  • Visit EEK! – Environmental Education for Kids  to find out what causes global warming and what one person can do.
  • Explore how your trash affects the Earth's climate with the Trash and Climate Change Activity Book  which explains the effects of product reuse and recycling through a series of word games.
  • Help younger children enjoy the Nature Recycles Coloring Book .
  • Learn about making your own natural recycling—compost —in your own back yard or neighborhood.
     
• Families and religious educators can…
  • Take the Ecological Footprint  online quiz to measure your impact on the Earth's resources and find out w hat you can do to promote sustainable living on Earth.
  • Explore green space in your neighborhood with the How Green Is YOUR Neighborhood? 
  • M ake y our o wn Neighborhood Green Map locating eco-resources such as bike lanes, farmers markets and wildlife habitats, along with cultural sites that make our hometowns special. Mark the Green Map with icons for everything from bird-watching areas to toxic hot spots. There is a sub-set of 50 icons to use ; and you can also create your own. Make a Green Map for your congregation; it's a great intergenerational activity. Consider where your map will be displayed when it's completed.

What can we do to help stop Global Warming?

• Children and youth can…
  • Help stop global warming by following the suggestions in It's Up to You! You Can Make a Difference in This World . Recycle, plant trees, turn off electrical appliances when not in use, encourage less car use, and raise awareness of our shared need to honor and care for our earth.
  • The United Nations Environmental Programme  offers many ways to treat our planet with care and affection. Check out their materials and activities for youth  which are especially good.
     
• Families and religious educators can…
  • Follow the 12 Steps for Becoming Friends with the Earth  from the Institute for Peace and Justice which emphasizes the beauty of all creations, and how to protect and share it with others.
  • Find out what you can do to reduce your impact on the Earth .
  • Track how you've given Earth a helping hand, by recording information on the Earth Day/Arbor Day calendar .
  • Do the earth day bags  project featured in the congregational story with your congregation or friends. Take small steps to protect the environment in your daily life and raise awareness of the larger global picture when you can.

What can we do to honor our family—the interdependent web of life—on our home planet Earth?

• Children and youth can…
  • Live out our seventh principle, “We need to take care of the earth, the home we share with all living things.”
  • Care for the living things in your local community and learn about those in our broader world community.
  • Learn about endangered big cats – Sumatran tigers, Amur leopards, and Snow leopards – and find out here how you can help them through Pennies for the Planet . Collect pennies for projects that help protect the three endangered cats. Try out new fun ideas for collecting pennies .
  • Learn about how animals communicate and protect each other by playing the active game Deer Talk . This game will help you recognize how deer use non-verbal communication for mutual protection and interaction.
     
• Families and religious educators can…
  • Celebrate Earth Day and Arbor Day  at home and in congregations. We are all one family living together on our home, planet Earth.
  • Lift up stories about environmental heroes and heroines including Rachel Carlson , the mother of environmentalism; Mardie Murey, the grandmother of the conservation  movement; and Gaylord Nelson , the father of Earth Day . Talk about who else might be included in a list of environmental heroes .
  • Send in stories about children and youth who are planetary heroes—working on behalf of the environment to the Wilderness Foundation .

How can we bring our Unitarian Universalist faith into action for the earth?

• Children and youth can…
  • Care for the earth as an act of faith.
  • Use Earth Day resources  from the Church of the Larger Fellowship.
  • Ponder our interdependent web of life through the story, “ What if the earth were only a foot in diameter? 
  • Draw pictures illustrating what it means to you to live closely on this earth together and share them with others.
     

Families and religious educators can…

Explore the Threat of Global Warming—the Study Action Issue (SAI) 2004-2006. In June, General Assembly will vote on approval of this SAI as statement of conscience. Follow the process described by religious educator Pat Kahn, UU Church of Atlanta, to engage children and youth in voting on this issue. See the Study/Action Issue Resource Guide prepared by the UUA's Washington Office for Advocacy with the aid of the Unitarian Universalist Ministry for Earth for helpful resources and organizations.

Explore WorshipWeb resources for Spring and Earth Day.

Conduct a springtime service of peace, at home or in your congregation with the Children's Chapel: Being at Peace with Oneself.

Use the Unitarian Universalist Ministry for Earth  worship resources for Earth Sunday , including a story for all ages titled Tikkum Olam: Repair of the World : A Kabbalistic Creation Story, by Naomi Newman.

Sing Unitarian Universalist hymns about the earth from Singing the Living Tradition  (including #33, Morning has Broken; #21, For the Beauty of the Earth; #16, ‘Tis a Gift to be Simple; #174, O Earth, You Are Surpassing Fair; #173, In the Branches of the Forest; and #163, For the Earth Forever Turning) and from Singing the Journey (#1073, The Earth is our Mother; #1066, O Brother Son; #1052 The Oneness of Everything; #1064 Blue Boat Home; #1067, Mother Earth, Beloved Garden; and #1068, Rising Green).

• Congregational Story
• Earth Day 2006: Honoring our Home, Planet Earth

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