In Canada, Earth Day has grown into Earth Week to accommodate the number of events and projects. Victoria has Earth Walk, Edmonton has Earth Day Festival, Oakville, Ont., offers a Waterways Clean Up project and the list goes on with thousands of small events staged by schools, employee groups and communities. Now more than six million Canadians join one billion people in over 170 countries in staging events to address local environmental issues. The globe is constantly facing environmental challenges and there is a need to address the issues that affect our fragile environment in order to survive.
Canadian musicians have been involved in raising awareness over environmental issues for many years. Many are actively involved in projects, such as Sarah Harmer’s commitment to protecting the beauty of the Niagara Escarpment, and Bruce Cockburn’s desire to save the forests from the devastation of improper logging practices. Here are just a few examples of Canadian performers and their songs about the environment:
Sarah Harmer, “Escarpment Blues”
Bruce Cockburn, “If a Tree Falls”
Joni Mitchell, “Big Yellow Taxi”
Neil Young, “Mother Earth (Natural Anthem)”
Danny Michel, “Feather, Fur & Fin”
Gordon Lightfoot, “Ode to Big Blue”
Great Lake Swimmers, “Put There by the Land”
Katie MacDonald, “Our World”
Keith and Renee, “The One”
Berna-Dean Holland, “Black Gold”
There are many ways to get involved with Earth Day – find out more by going to the Earth Day Canada website (http://www.earthday.ca/pub/).