Earth Day may be one of those holidays you choose to shrug off as extraneous. That’s understandable, but thinking about the environment would not be such a waste (pardon the pun) of time.

At least one senior living community devoted some time to the holiday, which is today. Residents of Riderwood retirement community in Silver Spring, MD, held a program featuring 30 exhibitors—a mixture of outside organizations, such as the Maryland Ornithological Society and Wildlife Habitat Council, and resident-run groups, such its Garden Club, Recycling Group and Project Budburst, according to Erickson Retirement Communities, which operates Riderwood. 

Residents also planned an “environmental film festival” and the Earth Day Committee at the community partnered with two classes at the grade school Beltsville Academy. Students held an Earth Day performance this morning.

Resident organizers, such as Ronni Lowell “have been passionate about protecting the environment and educating the public throughout their lives,” the organization said in a statement.

Residents’ celebration is a reminder that taking care of Mother Earth, while it is a hot topic today, is not new. Greenhouse gases, climate change and global warming are the buzzwords of today. But pollution and litter have been persistent concerns for decades.

It’s appropriate for long-term care providers to remember Earth Day, which turns 40 this year, because helping the environment is not so different from helping people. Both require nurturing and care. Earth Day is worth a thought, if only because it helps us remember to tend to all living things.