(Photo: Getty Images)
Earth Day gets a bad rap. Some people
complain that one day isn’t enough to help this precious planet that sustains
all of our lives. Other people are
annoyed that we get flooded with tips on how we should be green, leaving us
guilty and overwhelmed.
I
for one say “no” to a guilt-ridden, obligation-filled Earth Day. Instead, let’s have some fun!
That’s what we’re striving for with our
Yahoo! Earth Day program. On our Earth Day microsite and Yahoo! Search, we’re highlighting some of
Earth’s biggest puzzles.
Ever
wondered why ladybugs have spots? Or what’s the world’s only immortal animal? You can find the answers to these questions and more using
Yahoo! Search or by visiting earth.yahoo.com.
We’re
also featuring common things people search for such as how to turn your old electronics
into cash and global
warming myths and facts. And just to balance out all the noise about
what we should do, we’re highlighting what NOT
to do for Earth Day. Bet you
didn’t know that organics aren’t always best.
The
Earth doesn’t really care about national borders, so we’re excited that 22
countries around the world are helping raise awareness of Earth Day by changing
their Yahoo! front page logos and linking to relevant Earth Day information. Our employees are getting into the
spirit of fun, too. 17 offices
around the globe are holding celebrations.
For instance, in our Sunnyvale headquarters, we’re holding a
Search Off where employees will challenge each other to find answers to green
trivia questions using Yahoo! Search.
The first one to find the answer wins an eco-friendly prize. Everyone at the celebration gets free
gelato — green tea, pistachio, or mint-chip (because they’re all green!).
And
here at Yahoo!, we agree that Earth Day shouldn’t be just one day. That’s why we’re proud to run the #1
environmental destination on the Internet: Yahoo! Green. Every day of the year, you can find ways
to improve your life and the world.
We also have a vibrant Twitter
and Facebook community so you
can keep up with the buzz every minute of the day. We even held a lively Twitter party earlier this
week where people could ask and answer questions about being green.
Now
I’m off to find out if earthquakes are really on the rise or if it just seems
like they are. I hope you’ll join
me at http://earth.yahoo.com.
*Ranking of green sites
based on Comscore, March 2010 data.