Earth Day is a special day for my husband, Clif, and me. Not only is it a day set aside to honor our planet and to bring environmental awareness to citizens everywhere, but it also happens to be the birthday of our youngest daughter, Shannon. As is often the case, there was no grand plan involving her original birth date. She just happened to get lucky. So first and foremost-happy birthday, Shannon! The rest of the family is more than a little envious about when your birthday falls.

But for us, Earth Day goes far beyond the personal. We dedicated the 2009 spring issue of Wolf Moon Journal to planet Earth, and it seems to us that the problems we face today are very serious indeed. When Earth Day was first started, by Senator Gaylord Nelson on April 22, 1970, some of the major concerns were polluted rivers, DDT, and smog. These are serious issues, and we certainly don’t want to minimize them, but in retrospect they seem much more manageable than what we are facing now-climate change that will have a major effect on all life on Earth; human overpopulation, 6.5 billion now and estimated to reach 10 billion in 2050; and peak oil production, which will lead at first to higher prices and then to scarcity until we finally run out.

In retrospect, most of us now realize that in the 1970s we were well on our way to the problems that would confront us in 2009. Back then, only a few enlightened souls could see what was coming, and unfortunately, we chose to ignore them. Today, only the diehards deny the evidence, and it is my guess that in time they will come to seem as delusional and as out of touch as those who belong to the Flat Earth Society.

In the face of such problems we face as a planet, it is easy to get discouraged and, if truth be told, more than a little depressed. If, on one side, we have the naysayers who refuse to admit anything is wrong, then on the other side we have the doomsayers who insist there is nothing we can do as individuals to fix Earth’s problems and so we might as well party like it’s 1979.

At Wolf Moon Journal, we firmly reject both views. While we realize that we do need national and world leadership to address the issues of climate change, human overpopulation, and oil depletion, we also think that there is much we can do as individuals. We believe that if millions of us change our ways, then the planet will prosper. We can decide to have fewer children; we can decide to drive less, to get off our backsides, and to walk more; to eat less meat, especially beef, which requires so much energy to produce; to hang our laundry outside; to recycle; to add insulation to our houses; to cook from scratch; to buy as much locally as we can. This list goes on, and in the process of doing what we can, something startling emerges-a more satisfying, mindful life that is rich and rewarding. Some of my suggestions might seem quaint and outdated, and I suppose in a way they are. However, they also bring pleasure-an odd concept, I know-but there you have it.

This Earth Day will be a holiday for Clif and me. The car will stay in the driveway. Unless there is a tempest, we will take the dog for a long walk. Shannon and her fiancé, Michael, will join us for dinner, and we will raise our glasses for a toast to planet Earth. And, to paraphrase from A Christmas Carol, we will honor Earth Day in our hearts, and try to keep it all the year. We hope you will, too.