International Environmental Education Day

The first chapter of the first book of the Bible tells the story of how God not only created the world, but put us “in charge.”

Then God said, “Let us make humans in our image, according to our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over the cattle and over all the earth…” God blessed them and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” ~ Genesis 1:26, 28

Biblical experts say that in the original language, when God says “subdue” and “dominion,” it doesn’t mean ruling over it like a king, but instead, caring for it as if it is our own. So essentially, God is telling us to protect and care for the earth like it’s our child.

Loving Mother Earth

Unfortunately, humans aren’t always the best at taking care of each other all the time, let alone the planet. So many, many years later, the United Nations launched several programs to promote awareness of planetary stewardship and how to help heal the planet.

Today, January 26, is International Environmental Education Day. Beginning all the way back in the 1970s, world leaders met in Sweden and then in Belgrade, Serbia and decided on a plan to teach the people of the whole world about protecting our environment.

The “Belgrade Charter” came up with a plan to educate students in school as well as adults out of school on ways to protect the earth and even help reverse some of the worst damage we’d already done to the planet.

One of those programs was International Environmental Education Day, one day every year where people get together and celebrate what we’ve accomplished and try to do even more to improve our relationship with the animals, plants and environment we all live in.

In 1990, the United States Environmental Protection Agency decided we needed to do even more to take care of our country and its national resources.

Taking Care of Our Own Backyard

It wasn’t enough just to learn about the environment. The EPA said we should take it one step further – if we help people understand environmental issues and how they impact each of us, then we can work together to find a solution.

Instead of a bunch of scientists or the government lecturing us on what we should or shouldn’t do, we could put our heads together so everyone would take ownership of what we’re doing to protect and restore our planet.

So, International Environmental Education Day is about more than just learning about the issues. It’s us all working together to understand our planet and the different weather changes it goes through. It’s deciding to do our part, whether it’s taking shorter showers or investing in solar panels.

It’s figuring out how to use wind and sun to power things instead of burning more fossil fuels that can make it hard to breathe – and at the same time letting the planet we live on renew and refresh, rather than depleting the resources we have.

For us at Good News Pest Solutions, it’s about protecting families and the environment, getting rid of bugs and other pests with safe solutions - no dangerous chemical pesticides, but effective treatments that are as organic as possible.

Sometimes, it’s about turning biting mosquitoes into vegans, so we don’t have to kill off one of our top three pollinators. It’s about protecting bees in their natural habitat and helping them recover after a catastrophic hurricane.

It’s about being good stewards of our planet the way God commanded us. To learn more about what we do to protect the Gulf Coast of Florida, or schedule the first treatment for your home, give us a call!