Author: Karen

A few weeks ago we went to Terschelling for our Full Moon Winter Weekend. On Sunday we had a beach clean-up. In 2,5 hours we’ve picked up 125 kg (!) of trash from the beach. We picked up light bulbs, plastic bags, my little pony brushes, a fridge(?), fishing nets etc. The energy of the group was high, we did a good deed together and that felt good. I started looking on the internet to see what else we could do and I came across pictures of the #trashtag challenge. The #Trashtag Challenge The challenge inspires people to go to locations covered in garbage, pick up the trash, and post before and after pictures on social media. So far there are more than 29,000 posts tagged on Instagram and countless volunteers have cleaned up parks, roads and beaches around the world. It seems that this post kicked things off: "Here is a new #challenge for all you bored teens. "Take a photo of an area that needs some cleaning or maintenance, then take a photo after you have done something about it, and post it."   Luckily not just teens are picking up trash. Over the past week more and more people started to share the most noteworthy trash cleanup photo. The #trashtag challenge is awesome: It gets people involved in their community; It brings awareness of the amount of waste created and not dealt with properly; It takes people out into nature — a significant benefit considering we all spend a lot of time inside, being inactive and staring at our screens; It brings people together; It makes people feel good. The #trashtag challenge shows we can make the world a better place and that we have the power to make a difference in the world. Hopefully, the success

Nowadays it is increasingly difficult to find a place where it is quiet. The world around us has become pretty loud and cluttered. Sometimes you may find yourself seeking for some silence. This might be a wise move as studies are showing that silence is much more important to your brains than you might think.

WHAT IS EARTH DAY? Earth day? Yes, every year on 22 April we are celebrating Earth day. It is celebrated all around the world in order to increase awareness among people about the environment. The aim is to encourage people to do things that will benefit the Earth, such as recycling more, using sustainable energy or plant trees. WHAT IS THE EARTH DAY THEME FOR 2018? Every year Earth day has a theme. This year people are being encouraged to reduce their plastic consumption and to use more eco-friendly materials. Plastic pollution is a large environmental problem right now. We are creating plastic waste at an astounding rate. In 2015 the total was estimated to be around 6300 million metric tons. What?! Yes, 6300 million metric tons. Only 9% of the world's plastic is recycled. A lot of our plastic waste accumulates in landfills and the environment. Much of the world’s plastic has ended up in the ocean, where, dispersed by currents, plastic becomes virtually irretrievable, especially once it has fragmented into microplastics. Plastic particles are already found in our sea salt. WHAT CAN WE DO TO REDUCE PLASTIC WASTE? Below are some super easy ways to reduce your plastic consumption: Bring steel reusable bottles instead of plastic bottles on every trip Use reusable bags/ a backpack when you go shopping Don't use plastic straws with drinks where possible Use reusable cups, plates, cutlery when you go on a camping trip Get the plastic off your face. Avoid creams with “polypropylene” or “polyethylene” Pack meals in reusable containers instead of disposable plastic containers and sandwich bags Use a razor with replaceable blades instead of a disposable razor Make fresh squeezed juice or eat fruit instead of buying juice in plastic bottles. HOW DID EARTH DAY BEGIN? The seeds of Earth

During Easter, the Easter bunny, or the Easter hare brings baskets filled with coloured eggs. Ever wondered where this tradition came from? It turns out Easter actually began as a pagan festival celebrating spring in the Northern Hemisphere. Professor Carole Cusack from the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Sydney broke down some of the common ideas surrounding the Easter celebration. According to the professor people have celebrated the equinoxes and the solstices as sacred times since pre-historic times. The spring equinox is a day where the amount of dark and the amount of daylight is exactly identical, so you can tell that you're emerging from winter because the daylight and the dark have come back into balance. In the past people mapped their whole life according to the patterns of nature. Where does the name Easter come from? The English word for Easter is derived from the name of a minor Anglo-Saxon goddess, Eostre, who was described in a book by the eighth-century English monk Bede. Eostre was a goddess of the growing light of spring and fertility. Feasts in her honour were often celebrated in April. In German, the word for Easter is “Ostern” and is derived from the German version of Eostre, called Ostara. In both these names the linguistic element meaning ‘east’ (eost, ost) reinforces the connection with spring and the rise of the sun. While Christmas (the feast celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ) falls on 25 December every year, the date of Easter (the festival that celebrates Jesus’ resurrection), is not fixed and often falls anywhere between late March and late April. This is because the date attempts to reconcile the solar and lunar calendars. In 325 AD the first major church council, the Council of Nicaea, determined that Easter should be the Sunday