This Sunday, April 22 2012 will be Earth Day, a great time to celebrate our planet and reflect on the things we should be doing to keep making it a beautiful and sustainable place to live.

This will be the 43rd Earth Day (the first was held on April 22 1970) and many different events are planned for the weekend. For a brief overview, visit the official Earth Day site at EarthDay.org. What are you planning on doing this Earth Day to reflect on the state of the environment?

One of the really inspiring projects on the site is The Canopy Project which is an effort to radically increase tree coverage on the planet through the planting of one billion trees. The project focuses on geographic areas where reforestation is desperately needed, but anyone can do their part to help simply by planting a tree. Remember, Earth Day is all about awareness and the simple act of planting a tree can help reinforce the message and is a great teaching tool for children.