The aim of Earth Day 2011 is to gather at least one billion acts of services to the environment by the time the 2012 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development rolls around, otherwise known as Rio+20. So far the Earth Day Network has recorded over 70 million Acts of Green as part of Earth Day 2011 and now school children in the Middle East have contributed in their own way by planting trees at their school.
By clicking up another 650 acts the school children at the Patriarch Diodoros the 1st School in Amman, Jordan are helping make Earth Day 2001 become the world's largest environmental campaign ever.
The students at the Patriarch Diodoros School listened to talks about Earth Day and environmental issues, discussions on how planting trees can help the environment and also how to save precious energy resources. Naming themselves 'Earth Day Volunteers', they then headed into the gardens surrounding their school and planted trees and flowers.
The President of Earth Day Network, Kathleen Rogers, said '''Patriarch Diodoros School is a prime example of the great commitment our partners in the Middle East continue to demonstrate in helping us collect a billion Acts of Green worldwide. Hearing the voices of children at PDS and elsewhere is critical to bringing the attention of government leaders to the movement''.
The students at the school recognise how vital the environment is to their own futures and see Earth Day 2011 as an opportunity to raise awareness to sustainability and the importance of individual actions. Abdul Aziz Al-Gandye, a student in grade 4 at the Patriarch Diodoros School said, ''We all should contribute to raising the load of the environmental pollution on the shoulders of our Mother Earth''.
The Earth Day Network hope that by reaching A Billion Acts of Green they will encourage the government leaders who are meeting at the UN Rio+20 conference to really act. They want to demonstrate just how seriously the citizens of Planet Earth take sustainability and care for the environment.
So now is the perfect time to complete your own Act of Green and add your support to Earth Day 2011.