TALLAHASSEE, Fla. /Florida Newswire/ — Governor Charlie Crist today joined Florida Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Michael W. Sole and nearly 500 students at the Capitol to celebrate the 40th annual Earth Day. The Governor announced the theme for this year’s celebration as “Easy As One – Ordinary Actions, Extraordinary Results,” an environmental awareness campaign to motivate Floridians to exercise daily environmental responsibility.

“Floridians may think that to protect the environment they must make drastic changes to their everyday routines, but this is just not true,” said Governor Charlie Crist. “Protecting the environment can be as easy as recycling plastic bags, buying energy-efficient products or using available alternative energy sources.”

“Earth Day is a perfect day to launch Easy As One,” added Secretary Sole. “Education is a vital component of environmental protection, and by engaging everyone in Earth Day activities and highlighting the efforts of both business and government, we hope to spread awareness of the simple ways we can all protect the environment for future generations.”

“Easy As One – Ordinary Actions, Extraordinary Results” is an environmental awareness campaign by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) that highlights easy actions citizens can take to make sustainable practices part of daily life. DEP calls on citizens to adopt green practices that protect Florida’s air and water quality, conserve water and reduce waste. Governor Crist noted that a sustainable Florida depends on the collective efforts of citizens, groups, businesses, industry and government. Part of today’s Earth Day celebration also included a plastic bag recycling contest between students and adults. Students who brought at least 22 plastic bags were rewarded with a free one-day pass to any Florida state park. More than 5,000 bags were collected.

As part of the Easy As One campaign, the Governor highlighted two new environmental awareness programs launched by DEP in partnership with Lamar Advertising, the Florida Retail Federation, the Florida Recycling Partnership, Recycle Florida Today and the American Chemistry Council. Recently, Lamar Advertising was awarded a $2.5 million grant from the Florida Energy and Climate Commission to install more than 1,300 solar and wind-powered billboards in Florida. Each billboard system is expected to generate enough power to offset the power it consumes. Lamar has launched a Web site, www.renewableflorida.org, to educate consumers on similar alternative energy uses.

In addition, Hilex, the Florida Retail Federation and the American Chemistry Council touted the A Bag’s Life campaign, promoting the reducing, reusing and recycling of plastic bags. The Web site, www.abagslife.com, offers recycling information by zip code and ideas on how to reuse plastic bags conscientiously.

For more information on environmental protection in Florida, visit www.dep.state.fl.us. For information on “Easy As One – Ordinary Actions, Extraordinary Results” visit www.dep.state.fl.us/EasyAsOne.