Earth Day gets a bad rap.  Some people complain that one day isn’t enough to help this precious planet that sustains all of our lives.  Other people are annoyed that we get flooded with tips on how we should be green, leaving us guilty and overwhelmed.

I for one say “no” to a guilt-ridden, obligation-filled Earth Day.  Instead, let’s have some fun!  That’s what we’re striving for with our Yahoo! Earth Day program.  On our Earth Day microsite and Yahoo! Search, we’re highlighting some of Earth’s biggest puzzles.  Ever wondered why ladybugs have spots?  Or what’s the world’s only immortal animal?  You can find the answers to these questions and more using Yahoo! Search or by visiting earth.yahoo.com.

We’re also featuring common things people search for such as how to turn your old electronics into cash and global warming myths and facts.  And just to balance out all the noise about what we should do, we’re highlighting the five things NOT to do for Earth Day.  Bet you didn’t know that organic isn’t always the best.

The Earth doesn’t really care about national borders, so we’re excited that 22 countries around the world are helping raise awareness of Earth Day by changing their Yahoo! front page logos and linking to relevant Earth Day information.  Our employees are getting into the spirit of fun, too.  Seventeen offices around the globe are holding celebrations.

For instance, in our Sunnyvale headquarters, we’re holding a Search Off where employees will challenge each other to find answers to one of a hundred green trivia questions using Yahoo! Search.  The first one to find the answer wins an eco-friendly prize.  Everyone at the celebration gets free gelato – green tea, pistachio, or mint-chip (because they’re all green!).

And here at Yahoo!, we agree that Earth Day shouldn’t be just one day.  That’s why we’re proud to run the #1 environmental destination on the Web:  Yahoo! Green.  Every day of the year, you can find ways to improve your life and the world.  We also have a vibrant Twitter and Facebook community so you can keep up with the buzz every minute of the day.  We even held a lively Twitter Party (#YEarth) earlier this week where people could ask and answer questions about being green.

Now I’m off to find out if earthquakes are really on the rise or if it just seems like they are.  I hope you’ll join me at http://earth.yahoo.com or follow us on Twitter at @YahooGreen

-Erin Carlson, Director of Yahoo! Green

*Ranking of green sites based on Comscore, March 2010 data.