10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
From a little bit of history to a whole lot of activity.
In the next 10 minutes, we'll get the lowdown on what's up with Earth Day.
I'm Bethany Vandel and this is the 10 News.
April 22nd is Earth Day.
You say it's your Earth Day.
It's my Earth Day too.
It's the annual event where people all over the world show their support for environmental protection.
Go environmental protection.
This year's theme Restore Our Earth is focused on natural processes, green technology and new ways of thinking about how humans can help restore the planet's ecosystems.
An ecosystem is a community made up of both living and nonliving things like a swamp or a forest, or some might even say your own neighborhood.
No way!
So why is Earth Day a big deal?
Let's break it down by numbers.
Earth Day began 51 years ago, when its two founders decided to do something to bring attention to big problems like oil spills, toxic waste dumps and the loss of wildlife.
The first Earth Day inspired 20 million Americans to come together, hold demonstrations and demand more environmental protections.
Yes!
Today, 1 billion people will celebrate Earth Day in more than 190 countries.
How's that for planet power?
Excellent.
So how will you celebrate protecting the planet?
Let us know in an email to hello at the 10news.com.
As we love to talk about, you're never too young to play a big role in helping out.
Callie Broadus, the founder of Reserva, the youth land trust, knows that better than anyone.
She's created the first entirely youth funded nature reserve.
How does it work?
We talked to Callie to find out.
Happy Earth Day, Callie.
Yay.
We're so happy to chat with you.
Thank you so much for joining us.
Let's start with what is Reserva and what led you to found the organization?
Thank you.
Happy Earth Day to you, too.
It's one of my favorite days of the year.
So Reserva is an organization that I started in the fall of 2019.
I had been at National Geographic for about seven years designing kids books and Reserva.
It is an organization meant to bridge the gap between youth activism for the environment and tried and true methods of biodiversity conservation.
We are in a major biodiversity collapse.
One million species are at risk of extinction.
Eighty percent of the world's forests have either been destroyed or irreparably degraded.
So nature cannot be left out of our actions right now.
So we started around this flagship project of creating the world's first entirely youth-funded nature reserve.
And the great thing about conservation, especially the way that we're doing it, is that you know, when you donate 5, that money can protect 600 square feet of cloud forest habitat in Ecuador.
And if you've ever seen a rainforest tree or a cloud forest tree, those trees are like a hotel.
For animals and plants.
I mean, your dollar is just going so far.
And that tangible transaction, I think is not only really beneficial for the planet but also for us as people.
We need to feel like we can do something.
This is just such a brilliant idea on so many levels.
The teaching to kids action and philanthropy and just really smart and useful, meaningful ways to use their money As well as, as you say, empowering them to for their future.
I do understand the power of the dollar and the power of donation and how putting money towards a situation like this is really a really big part of the answer.
But I also love that.
You offer an option for so many kids who might not be able to spend that money.
You know, write a letter, save the rainforest.
Absolutely.
I kind of can't believe I haven't talked about it yet, because it's like my favorite thing that we do.
Yeah.
This campaign.
It's called the One Million Letters for Nature campaign and it's supported by National Geographic Campaign for Nature.
The goal is to get governments around the world to commit to protecting at least 30 percent of our planet by 2030.
It's a very important benchmark on our way to protecting half of the Earth, which is Science tells us.
A lot of research has said very explicitly this is what is needed.
We need to save half of the planet in its natural state for us to have a prosperous future basically.
So the Million Letters campaign, as opposed to asking kids to donate, or if they already have donated and just want to do more.
It asks kids and youth up to 26 to write a letter saying what you love about nature and describing why world governments need to commit to protecting our last wild places.
And then they send us their letter and we commit to matching it with three dollars toward the reserve.
So it's kind of like a global lemonade stand in a way.
You know, we would buy your lemonade if we were seeing you in person.
So instead, we're buying your letter in a way and putting that money directly toward conservation.
What would you say to a kid who wants to make a big difference in problems like climate change and problems that are just so big and overwhelming?
OK, well, the first thing I would say is.
You are not alone and you don't have to do it all by yourself.
You don't have to be the best at every single aspect of solving a problem.
You just have to pick the thing that you're best at, the thing that is your strength, and do it as well as you possibly can.
So, for example, we've got I have a youth council member who's based in the UK and he is incredible at identifying species that he's found in his backyard and around his country.
And he has, at the age of 17, identified 3,700 species.
Wow.
And so we had this chat and said, Play to your strengths.
What is your what's your strongest thing?
It's identifying species.
Well, how can we turn that into something that raises money for the environment?
So what do you end up doing?
Is going to his neighbors and saying I would like to bio blitz your backyard.
I'd like to go into your backyard, go through your garden, go through your brush pile in the back and identify as many species as I possibly can, and then I'll give you a report.
And if you're happy with it, make a donation for me to Reserva, to this plant in my name.
That's amazing.
And so not only did he get to do something that he really enjoyed and that added to his species list and helps secure his career, moving forward as this really strong naturalist and was able to help his neighbors fall in love with what was in their backyard a little bit
And in return, he's raised a few hundred dollars for the reserve.
Do you have any projects coming up that you're really excited about?
I'm really excited because we are launching a new event today.
All month long, you'll be able to run for the rainforest.
You can run a 5k or a one mile dash or really just move your feet, anything.
You don't need to participate in the race part of it, but uh, on our website you can go and sign up.
You'll get a race bib and, um, and a medal just directly into your email to print out.
And um, And you can just go out, run your own route and make sure to share on social media the hashtag Run for the Rainforest.
And we're trying to get a thousand runners.
We've got a lot of people who are ready to share and starting to share today.
And so I'm really hoping we can hit this goal of a thousand runners.
And I hope everyone listening will be one of them.
I know we will over here.
That is so much fun.
And also, we're not just having fun.
We're doing something important.
Thank you so much for joining us.
To hear a full interview with Callie and learn even more about the work of Reserva, check out this Saturday's episode of the 10.
News Gets Extra.
Okay Tenors, now we know that we can write letters to help save the rainforest and grab our sneakers to be part of the virtual race.
But did you also know that there are things you could do right now in your house?
Like using less plastic?
What?
For example, if you have an old T-shirt around, you can make a reusable grocery bag out of it.
Thanks to our friends over at Nat Geo Kids, we learned how.
Check out their video Kids vs Plastic How to Make a T-shirt Tote and see how easy it is to make your own.
The link to the video is in the show notes.
Have any other cool tips?
Send us a note at hello at the 10 news dot com and we'll share our favorites right here on the show.
Cool beans, man.
Up next, it's time for what?
What?
What's the big idea?
Trivia on the 10.
Earth Day may be 51 years old, but the planet is way older than that, and so are a lot of the natural wonders on it.
Can you guess how old the world's oldest tree is?
Is it A.
5,000 years old, B.
3,000 years old, or C.
1,000 years old?
Did you guess it?
The answer is A.
In 2013, researchers identified a bristlecone pine in the White Mountains of California that was over 5000 years old.
That's incredible!
While we're talking trees, would you believe—get it, wood—
Would you believe that the world's widest tree is a Montezuma cypress in Mexico?
That's a whopping 38 feet across and the tallest tree ever logged.
A coast redwood in Redwood National Park called Hyperion stands 380 feet high.
That's more than the length of a football field.
Wow.
I wonder if these trees are home to the oldest, widest, tallest squirrels in the world, too.
Time's up.
But before we go, here's a quick note for the grown-ups.
Want even more great content from the 10 News?
Sign up for the 10 News newsletter, a.k.a. the 10 News letter.
It's a free biweekly email with even more stories to enjoy together.
And we made it easy for you.
The link to join is in the show notes and on our website, the10news.com.
Thanks for listening to the 10 News.
Look out for our new episodes on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and extras on Saturdays.
The 10 News is a co-production of Small But Mighty Media and Next Chapter Podcasts and is distributed by iHeart Radio.
The production and editorial team is a big group of tree huggers, including Tracy Crooks, Pete Mostow, Ben Austin DeCampo, Jenner Pasqua, Stephen Tompkins, and Sarah Olander.
Our production director is Jeremiah Tittle and The 10 News is executive produced by Donald Albright and show creator Tracy Leeds Kaplan.
Do you want to be part of the show?
Have a grown up help you record a question, a joke or a fun fact you want to share and email it to us at hello at the 10 news dot com.
Don't forget to show your love for the 10 news by going to your favorite podcast app and submitting a rating and a review.
It really, really helps others find the show so they can join the fun, too.
I'm Bethany Vanzel, and thanks for listening to the 10 News.
Happy Earth Day to ya.
Happy Earth Day to ya.
Happy Earth Day.
