Earth Day In the SunShine State -April 22nd 2010

Currently in planning stages for 2010 event:
Priorities: Looking for a Community or Company with Area to hold and Sponsor this Event
Prefer a Community or Company Already Going Green
How about someone contacting the Orlando Mayors Office or Publix for example both have ideal locations with ample parking and easy access
Site Location: Central Florida - Maybe Orlando, LakeLand, or Tampa Florida
Prefer a Location with easy close to Major Hwy Access ie I-4
Also need people to get State, County & Local politicians to attend
Would also like to invite local media to be there to broadcast the event. An MC from a Local Radio station such as 96.5
as well as a TV station filming of event for rebroadcast to media
Also looking for other businesses who already have vested interests in ecology, energy and entertainment as we would
like to have a total of a 6 hour program that runs from 9AM to 3PM, with speakers, music, vendors and open to the public. We also would like to invite participating companies to set up small booths (tables) where they would be available to advertise their special Earth Day wares throughout the event. We would also like to ask for donations from everyone to bring at least one can of food to be distributed to the homeless shelters or a dollar to compensate the host for any cleanup needed after the event.
The whole idea is to rally people around saving the earth through intelligent energy management, pollution reduction and honoring the planet and it's resources that we share.
Your kind participation is requested and whatever resources you can bring to bear to make this a successful 40th celebration of this worth while cause. If you know the Governor, invite him. If you know the Mayor of your local town or city invite them. If you have a business that would like to participate for FREE or have a large site that is available preferably paved, then please volunteer it. If you have porta potties and want to advertise, bring them too. If you have something to contribute, please help make this the best earth day celebration Central Florida sees this year, then we can make it even better next year. As you can tell this is spontaneous and extemporaneous so let's make this happen for us! So once we have some people volunteering in the trenches, so to speak they will take command of specific tasks, however first we need to line up a place where this can all happen. We have less than two months to get every thing lined up. How about it Central Florida, can we make this happen? It's up to you to come forward and make this earth day event your finest hour.

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Comment

Comment by Mark Hedtke on March 21, 2009 at 1:23am

Go outside! On average, we spend over 90% of our time indoors.
Make Earth Day a day to spend some time outside! Explore ways to green the outside of our schools, houses or buildings – plant a flower and vegetable garden, taking care to remove harmful invasive species, and planting drought-tolerant, pollinator-friendly plants. We can create an outdoor learning environment ideal for both education and nature appreciation!
Show a film. The folks have a great library full of educational videos at Earth Day TV, and we can show them for free!
Host a speaker
Give a presentation
Go door to door to talk with people and hand out educational materials
Present art and cultural performances
Produce a TV or video show about environmental issues in our community.
and the people at Earth Day TV would be happy to show it on Earth Day TV!
There are many more ideas on ways to Promote this Earth Day event at:
http://www.earthday.net/orgguide2009a.zip and http://ww2.earthday.net/~earthday/node/88
LET'S ALL OF US GO GREEN and GET INVOLVED for 2010 EARTH DAY!!

Comment by Mark Hedtke on March 21, 2009 at 1:22am

•When serving food at smaller events, consider using donated plates and cups that can be washed, rather than disposables that will get thrown out. If a larger event, look into using compostable utensils and plates.
•Remember that cleaning up litter or what we brought is only part of our departure plan. Make sure that any plants uprooted or trod upon are re-planted or re-seeded. Stone or wood paths should be surveyed to ensure that they have not been disturbed.
••Ideas••:
Focus on our future:
Whatever our event is, make sure it has a very strong educational component, paying special attention to children and young people.
Make it about solutions to our most pressing environmental challenges, including use of alternative energy and postive effects involving climate change. Work with our school district to organize in-the-classroom activities.
Hold a contest: Organize a poster, essay, poetry, T-shirt design, photography, or art contest with an environmental theme like the Green Generation. We will need a central location and a contact person for collecting entries. For poster and essay contests, send notices to schools and youth groups. Our notices should announce the theme, prizes, contest rules, eligibility and deadlines. We can have the awards ceremony at a culminating event and invite local businesses or individuals to donate prizes for different age groups.
Educate our community: Help set up an Earth Day exhibit in our local library, school, religious meeting place, city hall or popular public location.
Organize a water-quality monitoring activity for a local waterway:
Cleaning up litter and testing water samples are excellent ways to learn more about our local environment. Learn more about water issues at the Global Water Network.
Create a schoolyard/community garden: Communal gardens bring more green spaces to a community and connect people together and with nature. We can create a wildlife habitat, native flower garden or organic vegetable garden. We can also create a bioremediation field to take toxins out of the soil with natural methods, using sunflowers for example.
Create a community green map: A green map highlights all the environmental-related spots in our community, such as parks, recycling centers, farmers’ markets, thrift stores, public transit stations, and stores that
sell organic produce and other eco-conscious products. See the Green Map System’s website at www.greenmap.com.
March for Parks: The National Parks and Conservation Association created March for Parks in 1990 as a nationwide walking event to benefit America’s parks and open spaces. The event, held annually during Earth Day weekend, educates the public and raises funds for parks. To register a March for Parks event, email MFP@npca.org, or visit www.npca.org.
Be a smart shopper and clean out our closets: Read the labels on our cleaning supplies, art supplies, and personal care products – are all the ingredients non-toxic? Dangerous chemicals are found in everyday items in
our homes and schools, so choose wisely what we will come in contact with!
The National Institute of Health has a product database that can help us learn more; the Environmental Working Group’s chemical index is another great resource to look up ingredients’ safety information. To find safe arts and crafts supplies, go to the Art & Creative Materials Institute.
Un-Plug: The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that 75% of the electricity used to power electronics such as televisions, computers, and DVD players is consumed while the products are turned off. We can combat this “phantom” electricity use in our homes or offices by unplugging our electronics when they’re not in use, or by switching off our power strips at the end of the day. Also, if we are purchasing new electronics, such as computers, monitors, copiers, fax machines, or even “Exit” signs, push for items that are Energy Star-certified for products that up to 50% more energy-efficient.
Go outside

Comment by Mark Hedtke on March 21, 2009 at 1:21am

Considerations for mass events
1. Publicity. Don’t forget to publicize our event! Get the word out early and often through every possible medium. (For more on event publicity, see Working with the Media.)
2. Merchandise. Selling or giving away T-shirts, banners, pins and other Earth Day items can both publicize and finance our event. Create our own or order items from the Earth Day Network E-store.
3. Labor. Some jobs require special expertise. For instance, we may want to hire someone to help with the delivery of stage and equipment, or to manage audio controls.
4. Tents. Outdoor events benefit from tents to protect participants from the sun or rain. If you have exhibitors, charge them a fee to cover the cost of tents or for them to bring their own.
5. Exhibits. Budget money for the creation of interactive displays and activities. These can range from educational exhibits of cardboard with flaps that lift to reveal answers to energy trivia questions, to campaign information to models that display how solar, wind, and hydropower work. Be creative!
6. Exhibit fees. To help cover our production costs, we may consider charging a realistic exhibit fee. Have one rate for non-profits and another for businesses. Design the fees so that our tents, tables and chairs are
covered, with enough money left over to pay for our sound system, portable toilets, and insurance.
7. Tables and chairs. Exhibitors will need tables and chairs. Usually a tent supplier can also provide these for a small additional cost. Build that cost into our exhibitor’s fee.
8. Signs and banners. Directional signs to restrooms and activities will be needed in strategic locations. Make them large and easy to read.
9. Sound. Many performers have their own sound systems. If we have presenters or performers, figure out what they plan to use and what we will need to supply.
10. Entertainment/Music. Musicians and speakers often charge reduced or no fees for an Earth Day event. Ask all performers to provide a stage map for microphones and props. This will help us as we plan the stage design.
11. Volunteers. Have lots of volunteers on hand to help us with everything from setting up to cleaning up. Identify them by providing buttons, caps, shirts, or nametags. Providing food and beverages is nice, although not essential if we are strapped for money. (Read on—we have lots of tips in Working with Volunteers.)
12. Security. Volunteers can generally provide good security. If our event is going to be large, look into private security or off-duty police officers to help out. Generally they charge an hourly rate. Make sure that private firms are insured and bonded to assume liability for their staff. (NOTE: If we get the city and/or
county to co-sponsor our event, they may be able to provide security for free.)
13. Insurance. Special events may require additional insurance, so be sure to check with the site owner. Acquiring insurance may be as simple as getting an insurance rider on a participating organization’s existing insurance policy, or we may need a one-day special events policy.
14. First aid. Be sure to have at least one complete first aid kit on hand at our Earth Day event. Additionally, make sure that each volunteer knows where the kit is located and how to use it.
15. Portable toilets. These are essential for an outdoor event. We may be able to obtain them free of charge from your local Department of Waste Management. If not, negotiate for a reduced rate.
16. Cleaning up after our event. Here are some things we can do to make sure our Earth Day event leaves no trace behind:
•Have plenty of garbage bags on hand to use for clean-up.
•Provide clearly marked recycling bins and establish an on-site recycling center to separate trash from recyclables. Check with our local recycling center to find out what materials they accept and how materials should be sorted.
•Assign a special Eco-Team the task of cleaning up any trace of our event.
•When serving food

Comment by Mark Hedtke on March 21, 2009 at 1:18am

We need to ask people to introduce themselves and say what motivated them to come to the meeting. From this we can assess their interests, relate them to our own, and develop our plan for Earth Day.
• Find a venue. Identify a location for our Earth Day event. Outdoor public venues such as local parks are ideal, but depending on the nature of your event we may also consider a school or community center. Explore whether or not a permit is required, and submit the paperwork early enough to ensure that the event isn’t held up by administrative problems.
• Consider parking availability and access to public transit. Think about how people will get to our event. Is it possible to use public transit? If participants drive, where and how will they park? Finally, will there be bike
racks available for bicyclists? If at all possible, find a location that allows people to make use of public transportation, sidewalks, or bike routes to get to and from our event.
• Plan the stage. If we have speakers, musical acts or presentations, think about having a stage. How big would it need to be and how would we set it up (podium, speakers, sound equipment)?
• Plan for food. Offering food at our event will attract people, and involve local businesses or farmers. Consider offering environmentally conscious items, like local and organic food, as well as vegetarian/vegan options.

• Provide Information. Invite environmental groups and green businesses to set up booths at our Earth Day event. These booths can be educational displays (teaching about renewable energy, for example), action centers (with computer or phone stations for people to sign petitions or call their members of Congress), or
organizational displays, where organizations can spread their cause.

Comment by Mark Hedtke on March 21, 2009 at 1:15am

• We need partners such as community service organizations, environmental groups, and schools to see if they would like to participate in this event.
• We need someone to organize a kick-off meeting with the above groups to get this event on everyones schedules. This meeting will be used to pull together a steering committee and outline what everyone wants out of the Earth Day event.
• The Mission for this year, 2009 up to Earth Day 2010, will be to officially kick off the Green Generation Campaign , a global initiative to mobilize public action and support for effective climate policies and a strong global agreement; large scale investments in renewable energy; a comprehensive green jobs program; poverty-alleviation measures that are compatible with sustainability, and other public actions that will support a resolution of the climate crisis. The theme should be a logical extension of this theme for 2010 with a major emphasis on energy independence and conservation right into your own homes.

To Begin, we need to hear from people interested in becoming committee chairmen in the following areas:
•Project/event planning – arranging for location, facilities, overall
management of event.
•Fundraising – soliciting monetary and in-kind donations.
•Outreach – creating materials, engaging media and community.

Next we need to Develop a strategy
Identify our goals and objectives for the event.
How will we achieve them?
Will we rely on volunteers or will we be able to hire staff?
Which members of the community have a vested interest in our event?
Will our campaign be able to make use of paid media or will we try to generate free media by creating local
interest?
Will our strategy involve forming a new coalition?
There are many ways to craft our strategy. We need to pull together our steering committee and choose an action plan that is best for us.

Next we need to improve communication and build capacity
•Create a contact list with the names, numbers and email addresses of our staff and volunteers. Make this into a database where we can sort the list by committee or involvement to find people useful to particular needs.
•Create a list serve and telephone tree to reach key members of our team quickly.
•Develop a website that is appropriate to our target audience. Make it informative, interactive and fun. There are a number of free web hosts available and it is likely that one of our volunteers will know at least basic web design.
•Offer up-to-date, relevant resources that will make people want to visit our site more than once. Set up an email account where visitors can communicate with us, and don’t forget to answer their emails!
•Register our event with Earth Day Network at the Global Events Registry for 2010 as was done for 2009.
More than four million people visit the Earth Day site every year, and many of them are looking for an event to attend!
•Take advantage of all the free tools at our reach. Use the power of social networks and video sites like Facebook, MySpace, You Tube, or EDN’s Community Pages to interact with our own group, communicate with different organizers around the world, and spread the word about our event.

Planning for the event
• We need centralized and hosted planning meetings. To get things started, we need to invite people who would be interested in helping us to plan our event. Invite our network, local environmental organizations, Parent Teacher Associations, and school environmental clubs. To spread the word, there are flyers available on the Earth Day site to create flyers to post in public places with the date, time, and directions to our planning sessions. Places to hold the meetings could include homes, community centers, local coffee shops, or even a public library. At the meeting, we need to have all participants fill out a sign-up sheet with their name, email, address, and telephone numbers. We need to ask people to introduce themselves and say what motivated them to co

Comment by Mark Hedtke on March 21, 2009 at 1:11am

As you may know, Earth Day, April 22, 1970 signified the birth of the modern environmental movement in the United States. Earth Day founder Gaylord Nelson, then a senator from Wisconsin, recalls his motivation for proposing the first nationwide environmental protest: "The objective was to organize a national demonstration of concern for the environment so large that it would shake up the political establishment and force this issue onto the national agenda. It was a gamble, but it worked.”

May I take this opportunity here on the Pickens Plan site to thank the over 300 people who have emailed me at my contact email over the past month and a half about the Earth Day Event that has been proposed to take place this year. Although there has been an over whelming response from so many people, an important logistical decision has been made as the event was becoming much larger than anticipated and in dire need of far more volunteers and lead time for all arrangements to be finalized before the event. Considering that many people and businesses indicated that they wanted to attend, but did not have adequate lead time to schedule for this year's Earth Day Event, everyone who we have spoken with feel that next year would be better and recheduling this event for 2010 would provide ample preparation time to suit everyone's schedule. So basically I reluctantly yet with great anticipation for next year, must post this as NOTICE that the proposed event tentatively scheduled for this year will now have the time to do it right for next year on the 40th anniversary of Earth Day!

Please remember an event such as what is proposed for 2010, next year will need people like yourselves! We ask each of you who have event planning and show coordination experience to volunteer. It will be your logistical expertise to arrange for everything from event speakers to entertainers, as well as from business sponsors to event location arrangements. We want to provide areas for business participants where they can display their Earth Day wares right along side school children's arts and crafts, acknowledging their dreams for the future as well. This event already has grown far beyond my own expectations, so I encourage everyone who wishes to begin the planning for next year to plan on participating and let's all move forward with that as the goal.

You Can Make a Difference! Earth Day is now widely celebrated around the world as a collective expression
of public will to create a sustainable society. Earth Day activities educate and mobilize people worldwide to protect and appreciate the environment, rekindling public commitment and involvement in this endeavor across all social sectors. Counties, citizen groups, local governments, businesses, neighborhoods, schools, college campuses, and faith-based groups participate. Individual and collective choices that reflect environmental values and broaden public support result in sweeping changes. Earth Day helps expand and strengthen networks of community groups. As an annual event bringing people together, Earth Day events inspire changes that bring ongoing benefits to the community. Together, we are stronger! The strength of Earth Day is the diversity of people participating from different communities. In our experience, the best events are those in which organizers team up with others and take input from all players involved. As a result, those of you who want to participate will not be alone — this is the foundation of a team working towards the goal EARTH DAY 2010. We are encouraging those who want to participate to take leadership roles and delegate activities. Share the excitement and fun with others and you will create an Earth Day event where the enthusiasm is contagious. Thank you and I look forward to speaking with each of you in order to create new functional committees for this event.
• We need partners such as community service organizations, environmental groups, and schools to see if they woul