This Saturday is the 36th Annual Earth Day Celebration. So plant a tree, clean up a river, pick up some trash or just recycle something.

You can also take this opportunity to educate kids. The Detroit Zoo and Belle Isle are both holding educational but fun events to get children involved with the environment. I believe the children are the future. Teach them well and let them lead the way. Show them all the beauty they possess inside – and let them take their inner beauty out and make their world pretty and clean.

If the zoo isn’t for you, consider visiting a nature center, taking a hike or just sitting outside and communing with nature.

In our busy lives, we often forget about the environment. But remember that we need trees to generate air so we can breathe. Not being able to breathe would really suck, wouldn’t it?

Also, don’t forget about animals. As we develop suburb after suburb and store after store, we destroy the habitats of many creatures. We should work on rebuilding dilapidated areas instead of destroying new ones.

If breathing and consideration of other creatures doesn’t motivate you to action, how about fear of the wrath of Mother Nature? The United States has experienced as many hurricanes in the first quarter of the year this year as is normally received in an entire year. This could just be a freak occurrence. But it could be part of a global warming effect. Global warming is due mostly to pollution, which can be decreased by reducing, reusing and recycling.

If you enjoy not breathing, destroying habitats and dying in terrible storms, than by all means, forget respecting the environment. But if you want to score some karma points and live better all around – reduce, reuse and recycle – or else!!

This really IS an issue that should cross political party lines. It's simple to take better care of our natural resources.

For some more environmentally friendly tips and some statistics on the benefits of recycling, please see my article from Earth Day 2005.