Letters to the Editor

To the Editor:

Earth Day is celebrated on April 22, 2021. It is an annual event in 193 countries globally whose main focus is environmental protection.

Today, as the environmental crises deepens and we focus less and less on how to live in the natural world, it is important for citizens to learn more about how to live meaningfully and purposefully. The theme for Earth Day 2021 is “Restore Our Earth.”

Some of the main concerns today are air and water pollution, protecting the ozone layer, endangered species, organic food, oil spills, clean energy, global warming and recycling.

We can each protect our earth in many little ways: plant trees and native plants, pick up litter, turn down your thermostat, recycle and stop using pesticides.

Locally, the Martinsburg Boosters Club picked up litter along State Route 164 between Martinsburg and Fredericksburg.

Some suggestions of books to help your children become more aware of protecting the environment are: “Compost Stew” by Mary McKenna Siddals, “It’s Getting Hot in Here,” by Bridget Heos and “Miss Maple’s Seeds” by Eliza Wheeler.

Teens would enjoy the classic “Girl of the Limberlost” by Gene Stratton-Porter and a great book for older teens and adults is “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle” by Barbara Kingsolver.

Margaret Steinfurth

Martinsburg