It’s gorgeous spring weather … but don’t let the day slip by without reading the Friday Wrap! Outside my window, everything is in bloom – a veritable panoply of color and sweet smells. Those April showers have sure done their job.  This is definitely one of my favorite times of the year, and with Earth Day just behind us – a perfect opportunity to reflect on how precious our planet is and what a delicate dance we are engaged in with the ecosphere. So how are we doing? Are we taking good enough care of Mother Earth? Our Earth Day coverage this week spans our Causes channels and takes a long and varied look at the state of the planet — we hope you’ll sample it all. We’ve made it easy for you and put our Earth Day stories all in one place. Here are some highlights:

To get you thinking about the great outdoors, we had an Earth Day contest and gave away five copies of Education channel blogger July Molland’s book, Get Out! 150 Easy Ways for Kids and Grown-Ups to Get Into Nature and Build a Greener Future (Free Spirit, 2009), to the people who sent in the five best tips on how to get out into nature. Here are the winners.

Now let’s jump on over to our Environment channel, where Erika Oglesby blogs about how Celebrities Care, Too.  Truth is sometimes stranger than fiction, as Erika tells us. Avatar Director James Cameron is protesting the planned construction of the Belo Monte Dam in Brazil, which will flood indigenous land and force over 12,000 people from indigenous tribes to relocate. You can take action, too. Erika urges you to sign the petition urging President Lula of Brazil to not build the dam.

This is not a trick question: can we be as smart as animals? Nancy Roberts asks if these Four Rules to Save the Planet can really teach us not to “pee where we sleep.” With a title like that, how can you not read it?

Heather Moore‘s focus this Earth Day is on Eating as if the Earth Matters. She takes a look at how meat, egg, and dairy production destroys the environment. “The human population is expected to grow, and with it, global meat production. The world needs fewer humans, and fewer meat-eaters. We’ll all be better off when we learn to control our population and our appetite for flesh,” Heather claims.

Now is the Time is Angel Flinn‘s plea for people to wake up and change their perception of humanity’s role on the planet. Please read it.

When you’re done with that one, pop on over to our Global Warming channel, where Beth Buczynski hangs out a No Vacancy sign and tells us why humans are the earth’s biggest problem — and the solution. “Man’s modern marvels, cities full of industry and luxury, are threatening to become the very thing that poisons the environment, depleting the vital resources that rising populations feel that they are entitled to,” Beth says.  

Take a stroll to our Women’s Rights channel where Jaime-Alexis Fowler asks Why We Should Care About Family Planning this Earth Day.

Just a click away, Sharon Seltzer, who blogs for our Animal Welfare channel, explores Earth Day as a time to remember how interwoven humans are to nature and how our decisions have a ripple effect on all living creatures.  How’s this for a wake up call? Sharon’s post Ten Most Endangered Animals, exposes how the world’s rarest animals have recently been identified and most are near extinction because of choices made by humans. 

As Care2′s Web Editor/Producer Nicole Nuss puts it, “It was a sad day for animals this week as the Supreme Court voted to overturn a federal law that currently prohibits—for commercial gain—the making, selling or possession of videos and/or images depicting the torture and death of animals.” Learn more by reading her post, Supreme Court Votes Against Animals, as well as Alicia Graef‘s companion piece, Free Speech Trumps Animal Cruelty Videos. Nicole urges you to take action and tell Congress to outlaw videos of animal cruelty. Sign the Care2 petition here.

On our Trailblazers channel, I spoke with sustainable entrepreneur Boyd Cohen about his newest venture CO2 IMPACT, aimed at reducing global warming with carbon offsets in Latin America. Do you offset your own carbon footprint? Let us know! And check out the sources at the bottom of the post to learn how you can.

So Happy 40^th Birthday Earth Day! Although, of course every day is Earth Day, don’t you think?

Moving right along, there was a lot of other news this week, as well you can imagine.

On our Politics channel, Tracy Viselli examines Apple’s decision to boycott Fox News. And Jessica Pieklo analyzes the Arizona legislature measure requiring President Obama and any other U.S. presidential candidate to submit proof they meet the constitutional requirements for the presidency, including documentation of citizenship, before they can be on the ballot in 2012. If you haven’t already commented, we can’t wait to hear your views.

Over on our Civil Rights channel, blogger Steve Williams discusses how Rep. Barney Frank indicated on Sunday that a markup on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) – which would prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity — will occur “this week or next week” and that a full House vote will happen soon. “With ENDA looking likely to pass in the House, what about in the Senate? Let’s take a look at the possible votes,” says Steve.

This may seem hard to believe, but public school desegregation battles are still being waged in the South. Ann Bibby‘s Education channel post, Mississippi School District Openly Practices Segregation explores Walthall County Mississippi as the latest battleground of the Federal government’s continuing efforts to combat racism in schools and ensure equal education access for all children.

As the scandal over child sexual abuse by Catholic priests continues to unfold, is it edging ever closer to Pope Benedict XVI? Read Kristina Chew‘s Human Rights channel post, The Sex Abuse Scandal and the Church that did not know Right from Wrong, and join the conversation. It’s a chilling story to ponder, and a lot of you have already had a lot to say about it. 

A new commercial for Lane Bryant’s new lingerie line, Cacique, has been censored by Fox and ABC, both of which eventually agreed to air the commercial only in the final moments of “Dancing with the Stars” and “American Idol” – Fox agreeing only after Lane Bryant threatened to pull the ad buy. Read all about it in Ximena Ramirez‘s Women’s Rights channel blog, Lane Bryant’s Plus Size Lingerie Commercial Gets Censored by Networks. 

From undergarments to what’s under your belly… Let’s face it, nobody wants to talk about bladders, but if you are one of the millions of people living with a painful bladder disorder, it is unavoidable. Read Health Policy blogger Ann Pietrangelo‘s important post to find out what you need to know.

Finally, this week saw another birthday – but not one that fits neatly into the celebration category. Monday marked the 15^th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing.  Peaco Todd‘s incisive post reminds us that terrorism comes in all shapes and sizes.

Check out these posts from our Causes bloggers as well:

Ximena Ramirez – Promiscuous Women Cause Earthquakes

Nancy Roberts – Change Agents Inspire Hope and Humility: 2010 Goldman Environmental Prizes Awarded

Tracy Viselli – Can’t Afford Healthcare? Bring a Chicken to the Doctor!

Angel Flinn – All My Sisters: Avoiding Breast Cancer

And from all of us at Care2 Causes, have a glorious and healthy spring weekend!