“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtfully committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” — Margaret Mead

Marlton, NJ – Earth Day is honored around the world on April 22nd, although larger events are often organized for the weekends before or after April 22nd. Many communities also observe Earth Week or Earth Month, organizing a series of environmental activities throughout the month of April. Here at Balanced Planet Yoga, we have partnered with Clean Ocean Action (COA) for their 30th annual Beach Sweep to help promote awareness for the event and encourage local residents to head to the beach to participate. This Saturday, April 25th, 2015 Cheryl Betten and Derek McMahon will be leading a free yoga class in Atlantic City. The meeting point is outside the Rain Forest Café at 12:30 pm. The yoga class will be held after volunteers spend their morning removing trash and debris from not only the Atlantic City beach, but along all beaches and waterways in New Jersey. Anyone is welcome to join in the class!

COA has been doing beach sweeps for 30 years every April and October. Last year, nearly 7,000 volunteers participated state-wide. In 2014, volunteers collected, tallied, and removed over 315,000 pieces of debris from New Jersey’s shoreline during Clean Ocean Action’s 29th Annual Beach Sweeps. The majority of the debris removed was disposable plastics. Plastic, including foam, represents 76.9% of the total waste found. The evidence is clear: disposable plastic items continue to litter beaches, threaten marine life, and impact water quality.
Each year, volunteers look forward to participating in the Beach Sweeps as a way to get involved,” explained Catie Tobin, Marine Science Education Coordinator for COA, “but the goal is to continue the conversation into their homes.” “Cleanup events are great; however they are reactive efforts. We are cleaning debris once it gets in the environment and has a chance to impact our water quality, fish, and wildlife,” continued Tobin. “Prevention is the solution.”

If you cannot make it down to Atlantic City, there are still plenty of ways that you can help support the good work that COA does here in New Jersey. We have beach towels for sale in the studio and seed packets with 100% of the proceeds going directly to COA. You can also attend our next karma class on Saturday, May 16th at 10 am, which will be an all-levels class.

Why do we need Earth Day?

Because it works! Earth Day broadens the base of support for environmental programs, rekindles public commitment and builds community activism around the globe. Did you know that Earth Day is the largest civic event in the world? That it is celebrated simultaneously around the globe by people of all backgrounds, faiths and nationalities? More than a billion people participate in Earth Day every year – how cool is that? Balanced Planet Yoga wants to keep the conversation going and make every day Earth Day. When we keep our planet in mind, when we focus on ways to become more sustainable in every aspect of our lives and use our resources more mindfully, we are being not only good yogis but good stewards of our Earth home.