I Do Love the Internet.

My dad works in urban forestry, so when I was a kid, Earth Day and Arbor Day did not go unnoticed. My sister and I pitched in at tree plantings and press conferences, smiling cutely in our oversized "Plant a Tree: Cool the Globe" t-shirts. We'd get soil under our fingernails and we'd be a little achy the next day, but it was worth it (and not just because we got to skip school). When you drive down a street and see "your" tree growing tall and strong, and you know the rest of the community gets to share the shade, you feel responsibility, ownership, and just plain happy.


Courtesy of Flickr user Pathfinder Linden So when I saw that OneWebDay is billed as "Earth Day for the internet," I perked up and paid closer attention. According to this press release, today, Sept. 22, "communities across the country are holding events to learn about and advocate for that marvel of modern infrastructure, the Internet." The idea is to take the internet into our own hands, to strengthen its infrastructure, make sure it is accessible, and celebrate its many uses.

When you think about it, the internet really is amazing. My grandparents can dial up their old WebTV connection and hear news from their family on the other side of the country. My dad can market his documentary about elm trees to entirely new audiences. Every day (ahem, before I go to work at a website), I can access news articles and blog updates from Uganda and South Africa, then email friends in those countries to see how they are affected. I can sign petitions, conduct surveys, spread the word about political campaigns...and that's just the personal stuff. I'm barely scratching the surface of what is possible.

Of course we still have a long way to go. Not everyone can access the internet so freely or easily.

So if you're one of the lucky ones like me, why not celebrate and also work to make the internet more open and easy to reach? On the OneWebDay site, you can see a list of events taking place all over the world today, from Tunisia, where participants will choose their favorite Ramadan e-card, to London, where there will be a get-together in a bar to discuss current internet issues, to San Francisco, CA, where volunteers will work to increase Internet and technology access within public housing developments and low income neighborhoods. It's not too late to get involved!

And as someone whose perspective has changed with the opportunity to work on Idealist's blogs and podcasts, I'm a sucker for the Stories page. Over the past 100 days, people from all over the world have been answering the question, "How has the internet changed your life or your community?" Awards will be given today to the best stories.

Happy OneWebDay!

This entry by Julia, who also helps to edit the Idealist in NYC blog.