earth day 2010

well, in the interests of doing something constructive with what little time i have (spare in the mundane sense and ephemeral in the metaphysical), i decided i should post something regarding this year's Earth Day 2010. i'd almost completely forgotten about it, but the recent Earth Hour event jogged my memory enough to check the calendar. since i've made it a point to devote a post (or a few) to Earth Day in years past (reference: Earth Day 2009 and Earth Day 2008), i figured i might as well write for it again here.

Earth Day 2010 falls on April 22, and this year marks the 40th anniversary of the occasion. what started out as a minute grass-roots effort on the part of environmental activists to raise awareness has grown into a global phenomenon marked by governments, corporations, organizations, and citizens all sharing a common concern for the state of the Earth's environment.

superficially, something like Earth Day may not appear to have much to do with sports or athletics. but on deeper reflection, i think most of us would recognize the relationship that sports and sports industries has with the environment. sports events and sports venues, in some form or fashion, involve the use of natural resources. indirectly or directly, we use natural resources for the construction of sports venues, manufacture of sports equipment, assistance in sports training and therapy, and presentation to sports audiences. similarly, we impact the natural world in terms of human activity related to participation in, or appreciation of, sports.

i think any one of us has witnessed all of this first-hand (as simply as observing the mass of trash generated by your local 5k, 10k, or marathon). and i think that each of us has at some point or another wondered just what kinds of consequences were being produced by the environmental impact of our association--whether competitor or fan--in sports.

so for those of you who have shared such thoughts with me, i ask that you mark Earth Day 2010 with me and all the other bloggers out there concerned with the state of our environment. i can offer the following links:

• official earthday website: http://www.earthday.org/
• the earthday network supporting earthday: http://earthday.net/earthday2010
• resource list of links related to earthday: http://earthday.envirolink.org/
• the Bloggers Unite page for bloggers acting on behalf of earth day: http://www.bloggersunite.org/event/earth-day-2010
  

i'm going to do my part for Earth Day 2010. not just because i've done so in the past, but because i figure stuff like this is a good way to get out of a rut--sometimes, the best way to stop being bothered by your own problems is to start thinking about other, larger problems (i.e., stop being about the self and start being selfless, stop being about you and start being about others, stop being about one and start being about all). that, and a significant portion of my research is related to this field, and it only makes sense that i'm part of this now.