Earth Day is April 22, 2012 — the 42nd anniversary of a global eco-movement that isn't even close to running out of steam. Why would it? A sick, abused, deteriorating planet — polluted air, tainted water, pink-slimed school lunches — isn't good for anyone's health, even if you personally are smart enough to be working out daily, sleeping well at night and maintaining your ideal weight. Because a sick planet weighs heavily on us all.

When Earth Day began, it was a handful of conscious hippies, at their typewriters, calling attention to the fragile nature of the world we share. Remember Stewart Brand's iconic catalogue with the startling image of Mother Earth floating in space on the cover?

Now Earth Day is "the largest civic observance in the world," according to one of the organizing websites, www.Earthday.org. It actively involves more than a billion people in at least 192 countries, joining up to clean rivers, plant gardens, turn off lights, offset carbons, create green jobs, and whatever else inspires them to protect and show appreciation for the planet.

So what's your plan, your exercise of gratitude, your Act of Green? Install solar panels on your roof? Take a bike instead of your car on short errands? Buy real food from local farmers? There is so much to be done, and as this year's 2012 Earth Day slogan warns, "The Earth Won't Wait."

For moral support and fresh ideas, and to register your own Act of Green (they hope to collect a billion of them), you can visit the information-packed www.Earthday.org website, which is where I learned about an event called "The Coming of Times 2012: Messages From Our Elders," to be held in New York City on Saturday, April 21. It's the 6th Annual World Peace gathering, three days of ceremony and celebration featuring the "13 Grandmothers" film, tribal drumming and the PanEuRhythmy sacred dance meditation. PanEuRhythmy? I have no idea what it is, but just the sound of it makes me want to insulate my house and invest in low-flush toilets.

If your feather-shaking days are over, or never began, no problem. There's no wrong way to celebrate Mother Earth Day, other than buying an SUV. If you'd rather pay homage by adopting a rescue dog, or planting a tree to honor your own mother and father, or bringing your old computers and phones to a recycling center for proper disposal, bravo.

But do something.

And keep doing it.

That's the big-bang point of celebrating Earth Day. It reminds us that our health and the health of the planet are linked. It challenges us to live a greener, cleaner life because renewable energy isn't just about solar vs. wind, or electric cars vs. hybrids, it's about our own energy, and what we do to renew it every day, and how much of it we need after a busy day, to lead the life we want to live.

Collective action is called for because the inconvenient truth is, we're all in this together. That's what that game-changing photo of Earth in space showed us, in black and white, once and for all. We are one planet, one organism, and the more we support the Earth Day Network mission to "broaden, diversity and mobilize the environmental movement," the more choices we'll have to lead a happier, healthier, more sustainable life.

"The Green wave lifts all boats," says Van Jones, author of "The Green Collar Economy," who is featured in one of the many interesting videos on the Earthday.org website. In his view, individual actions kicked off Earth Day and sustained it for 42 years. Now we're entering Phase Two, and it not just about changing light bulbs, Jones says, it's about changing laws.

Meanwhile, while waiting, and waiting, and waiting for Congress to grow a Green economy, you can take action yourself, to make sure your energy is sustained, renewable and not dependent on fracking:

— Be physically active for an hour a day, 4-6 days a week. If you can't do an hour, do 30 minutes. Or even 10. But do something.

— Eat real food, pure and delicious, in moderate amounts.

— Get enough rest, aiming for seven to nine hours every night.

— Find joy. Laugh. Don't be a grump.

ENERGY EXPRESS-O! PICK YOUR PROMISE

"I will use my reusable grocery bags and quit leaving them in the car." — A pledge from Jahlstrom, posted on www.Earthday.org

Marilynn Preston — fitness expert, wellness coach, and speaker on healthy lifestyle issues — is the creator of Energy Express, the longest-running syndicated fitness column in the country. She has a website, http://marilynnpreston.com and welcomes reader questions, which can be sent to [email protected]. 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.