Earth Day and the PHR Exam, SPHR Exam, and GPHR Exam countdown

Today is Earth Day. It calls for a celebration to those who love and care about Mother Nature. What is so special about it is that most of the metropolitan dailies and tabloids carry the banner persuading everyone to come out and participate in this momentous event. It permeates awareness and it unifies everyone—all races in all continents.  What a beautiful scene to behold!

Earth Day began in the late 60s to early 70s. The founder is Gaylord Nelson, then a US Senator from Wisconsin. He was the one who proposed a nationwide environmental protest. On April 22, 1970, 20 million Americans or so went to the streets, parks, and auditoriums to demonstrate for a healthy sustainable environment.  Thousands of colleges and universities organized protests against the deterioration of the environment. Groups that had been fighting against oil spills, polluting factories and power plants, raw sewage, toxic dumps, pesticides, freeways, the lost of wilderness and the extinction of wildlife suddenly realized they shared common values.

Earth Day 1970 achieved a rare political alignment, enlisting support from Republican and Democrats, rich and poor, city slickers and farmers, tycoons and labor leaders. The first Earth Day led to the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species acts.

This event became a precursor of today’s Earth Day celebration and a sprouting of a green fad and cliché.  Others would say, “It’s not easy going green.” In fact it can be downright confusing:  “natural,” “organic,”  “fair trade,”  “certified organic,” and “recycled.”

And what on earth is this? Green is the new White Hat–the good fellas. In architecture and home building, it’s now called LEED, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, something invented by the US Green Building Council. The idea is simple: better use of recycled building materials, better energy efficiency.

Don’t you know that there is a LEED certification (for Architects) and the certification fee (exam fee) is far higher than what we pay in the HRCI PHR SPHR GPHR certification? It can cost $5000 up to $7000.  Taking the LEED is not compulsory though, like the HRCI certification. And that’s the trend. Better have it or you’ll be left behind.

Since today is barely a week before the opening of the May-June exam window for the PHR, SPHR, and GPHR certification, why not make a countdown by participating in today’s celebration of the Earth Day? If you are in the field, I mean employed and worked in HR, most likely your office have cooked something for today’s celebration. If not, try to initiate something in the future.  After all, HR is not only a management extension or for policies and procedures, salaries and benefits, change management, risk management, and sports fest and drama management.  It can also be a charity and social awareness division.