Every day can be Earth Day, if you plan it correctly. Plan it? Planet? Don't you just love the English language?

Earth Day — a revolution in consciousness celebrated April 22 by more than a billion people — barely struggled into existence in 1970, founded by the late Sen. Gaylord Nelson of the great state of Wisconsin.

According to the official Earth Day Network website (www.earthday.net), now it is the largest secular holiday in the world. The celebration has evolved into a much broader, grassroots campaign that involves not only the health of the planet, but also the health of communities and individuals. Combating the rising rates of asthma and cancer, deteriorating schools, lack of funding for public parks and recreation facilities, etc. is now as much a part of Earth Day as cleaning up air and water pollution and limiting your carbon footprint.

Planet Earth is at a tipping point. And now that we know it's all connected, we're all connected, and that's why your celebration of Earth Day should be a direct expression of your deep desire to live a healthier, happier lifestyle.

What's good for the Earth is good for you. The more personal energy you can sustain — through smarter eating and more regular exercise — the more you can work for sustainable energy for the planet.

So, how will you and your dear ones celebrate Earth Day 2008? It's not too late to plan it. Here are four eco-friendly ideas to get you started:

1. Clean up your bike and jump on! Ride it to work, to school, to local stores. Not only are bikes easy on the environment, they are a great way to burn calories, build muscle and juice up your joints. It's a win-spin situation!

2. Plant a garden and partake in the health-giving goodies you grow. Fresh food is the best food. If you're landless, find a community garden to play in. You can start with the American Community Gardening Association website (www.communitygarden.org). Get your kids to dig in, too. Research shows that getting kids involved in growing healthy food is one of the best ways to get them involved in EATING healthy food.

3. Enliven Your Lungs. On the external level, take action to limit your intake of poisons, toxins and chemicals in the air you breathe, coming from household cleaners, paints and finishes, furniture and flooring, etc.

On the internal level, exercise more regularly, breathe more mindfully and learn to make the most of the oxygen you do have. Yoga will help.

4. "No Child Left Inside" is the name of an ongoing Earth Day campaign to get kids away from the TV and video games and back into nature, so they can learn healthy ways to care for the environment. To connect, go to the Earth Day website and see how to get your child's school involved.

MEET MR. ANTI-MEAT: HERE'S WHY

As most of you Earthlings know, I encourage reader feedback. And when I get a really juicy one, I feel I have a stake in passing it along. So, meet Randy, a frequent flyer on "Energy Express":

Dear Marilynn: You will end confusion on meats or any other foods if you follow the item from soil to table. Live, fully mineralized soil grows healthy plants, and animals feeding appropriately on those plants are healthy food.

Lamb is probably the healthiest meat found in grocery stores because it is grass-fed. Beef is universally grain-fed on an unnatural diet for a grazer, adding hormones, vaccinations, antibiotics and inorganic salt and minerals … Yuck! Omega-3 and antioxidants are not in it because the cow neither enjoyed live, green plant material, nor natural minerals, nor clean open pastures.

It's all really simple, but industry info is all that reaches the public … (The problem is) state-sanctioned faux foods that further profit the state-sanctioned drug/health industry. Think there is a conflict?

Check out a real organic farm sometime to see for yourself. Also, check out these websites: www.eatwild.com, www.naturalnews.com, www.mercola.com and www.westonaprice.org. Then, compare this info to the media info we are fed everyday, have a glass of Scotch, two aspirins and take a nap. — Randy via e-mail

I don't care for Scotch, but everything else sounds perfectly reasonable. Thanks for sharing.

ENERGY EXPRESS-O! CHEW ON THIS

"Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet." — Albert Einstein

Marilynn Preston — fitness expert, personal trainer and speaker on healthy lifestyle issues — is the creator of Energy Express, the longest-running syndicated fitness column in the country. She welcomes reader questions, which can be sent to MyEnergyExpress@aol.com. To find out more about Preston and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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