Happy Earth Day! Countries Celebrate Throughout the World with Focus on Energy

Every year, on top of daily news, experts and public figures unite to provide the world with an "environmental wake-up call." Earth Day provides an opportunity to educate those who are unaware in order to make the world cleaner and more sustainable.

This year's Earth Day (as well as next year's) will focus on investing in efficiency and renewable energy. More than half of the world's population lives in cities, which means we need to seek more environmentally friendly options in order to mitigate pollution issues as well as the big climate change problem.

To make our cities greener, the official Earth Day website urges that we need to "rethink old conventions, improve energy efficiency, and invest in green technology." This means we need to begin to move away from inefficient electricity grids and dirty power plants so we can promote cleaner air. Through that, cities must consider adopting solar panels and wind turbines for primary sources of energy. These can efficiently power homes by using less energy, saving more money, keeping our air and water cleaner, and strengthening the economy.

New sources of energy would create more businesses and strengthen the job market as well - something that definitely cannot hurt the ailing economy and job market. Additionally, buildings in urban areas need improvements. They also need to become energy efficient, which will conserve water and reduce waste. Buildings across the globe are responsible for one-third of greenhouse gas emissions, but that can change if we help improve building codes (sector requirements that increase energy efficiency) and improve the solar permitting process because people within the industry say that it's limiting the growth of solar panels.

Transportation is another environmental aspect that needs mending. One of the biggest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions, transportation accounts for 24% of global emissions and it's still growing. To improve this matter, the world needs to invest in sustainable transportation technology to create fuel-efficient and low-emission vehicles, improve public transportation networks to make them more convenient and greener, and promote walking and biking in cities throughout the world (which will be much more enjoyable when we solve the first two issues to make our air cleaner).

Happy Earth Day!