Well, one of my favorite holidays is upon us. Therefore, I though I'd take the opportunity to do a little PSA for this most under-represented holiday.
This multi-national celebration was founded in 1970 by Senetor Gaylord Nelson, and is now celebrated by many nations around the world. On April 22, 20 million Americans took to the streets, parks, and auditoriums to demonstrate for a healthy, sustainable environment. Denis Hayes, the national coordinator, and his youthful staff organized massive coast-to-coast rallies. 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 loss of wilderness, and the extinction of wildlife suddenly realized they shared common values.
As the millennium approached, Hayes agreed to spearhead another campaign, this time focused on global warming and a push for clean energy. The April 22 Earth Day in 2000 combined the big-picture feistiness of the first Earth Day with the international grassroots activism of Earth Day 1990. For 2000, Earth. By the time April 22 rolled around, 5,000 environmental groups around the world were on board, reaching out to hundreds of millions of people in a record 184 countries.
Earth Day 2000 sent the message loud and clear that citizens the world 'round wanted quick and decisive action on clean energy. Earth Day 2007 was one of the largest Earth Days to date, with an estimated billion people participating in the activities in thousands of places like Kiev, Ukraine; Carcas, Venezuela; Tuvalu; Manila, Philippines; Togo; Madrid, Spain; London; and New York (Courtesy of Wikipedia.)
I remember hearing about Earthday for the very first time as a student in Elementary School and thinking, "what a load of crap. - What, they think that us planting a bean in a styrofoam cup is going to help the environment? The Styrofoam itself is doing much more harm than good." Well, so much for my activism as a child. So, I've been trying to make up for it as an adult to atone for my pre-adolescent pessimism and my adolescent indifference.
Often I vent and rant about the indifference that so many people, especially in the US have toward the environment. Don't believe me? Just look at my previous post on environmentalism - I ranted a bunch. Anyways, I just want to encourage you all to decide what you will do tomarrow to be a better steward of this earth that god has Given us. I don't think it's an accident that the creation of earth - of the trees, wildlife, rivers and oceans take such a prominent role in our most sacred worship. This place really is our home and it's a great place at that. Go out in nature tomarrow - if you can - just for a few minutes (even those nasty business parks ussually have some sort of pond with grass and ducks) and ponder on the world we've been given and what you can do personally to help make it better. Here are some suggestions.
Ride a bike instead of a car whenever possible; buy organic when possible; use reusable grocery bags (yeah Amy and your Southern California coercion); plant a tree; buy local; don't shop at major corporations; concerve water; recycle; use cloth diapers; make the choice to buy foods with less packaging; donate to environmental agencies; choose cage-free/free range meat/eggs/dairy; don't support new developments; don't litter....
The list could literally go on for pages. There is something that everyone can do.
On a related note, Arbor Day, in the US, is this coming Friday (the same week as Earth Day, strangely.) The city of Provo decided to celebrate Arbor Day early this year, in a way that only local government could, by CUTTING DOWN 4 really old trees that were lining the street in my neighborhood. I was sad. I'd encourage all of you to plant a tree. If you used a live Christmas Tree this year, plant two. If you used more than your fair share of office paper, or toilet paper, plant 6. Seriously, no one ever got prosecuted or chastised for planting trees - it's generally seen as a good thing.
I think what it really boils down to is us, as a nation and as a people developing a love for each other and a love for our world - and developing a sense of responsibility. So, I leave you with this thought. Consequently, it is the year of the Rat this Year.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PScUdYTO0UM
Happy Earth Day...Tomorrow
Posted by Anonymous on 4/21/2008
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12 comments:
Rick, your post--especially that bit about the trees getting cut down--reminds me of my grad school days at LSU in Baton Rouge, where the old oak trees are revered and extremely well cared for. Obsessed over, really.
IMHO, environmentalism won't REALLY take off until it becomes a religious issue.
--David
Rick, I appreciate this post and your zeal for environmental causes. I can't find much to disagree with - I agree that we should make choices to protect and conserve our environment. We need to weigh those choices with other worthy causes, but being environmentally conscious and aware is definitely a good thing, IMO.
I am very leery of environmental agencies and what other agendas they have going on, so with my scarcity of resources, I think I will choose to donate to other causes at this point. I'm not for sure I want to boycott all new developments because in areas like San Diego, they could really use some new development to bring the cost of housing down. When funds allow, I would like to purchase more natural meat/eggs/dairy. Disposable diapers? Alas, that is my weakness. I just . . . can't . . . do . . . cloth (although I think I am going to buy some for my emergency stash).
But, I definitely am working on everything else - buying things with less packaging, recycling, planting trees, etc. And I am teaching my children to do the same.
Oh, and is it a coincidence that the guy on the video looks a little bit like you? Maybe it's just the hat.
Rick, this was a really nice post. It made me think of those really awesome tee shirts in the eighties that changed designs based on temperature, so you could point a blow dryer at it and suddenly the panda would disappear, etc.
I think I will take a bit of earth in my apartment complex and plant a garden. You've inspired me.
Rick, for F.H.E. I talked to my dauther about the earth and how we need to take care of it.
For me, it is somewhat hard to jump on board with the overzealous environmentalists because of people like Al Gore, "The prophet of global warming". He pollutes more flying in his personal plane in one flight than I do driving for an entire month. And people follow him blindly. Reminds me of Obama.
Anyway, I think we have an awesome and beautiful world and we have to take care of it. At the same time, I think it is totally fine to use resources we have,i.e. oil, but in responsible ways.
Cloth diapers...Rachel has a free ticket to heaven for using them! I'm with Stephanie, I still can't do it.
Not supporting development, sorry, not with you on that one.
I often wonder with anyone who is so zealous for any one cause, is it too much? I mean, yes this is important, but wouldn't having the same zeal for sharing the gospel be even better?
Coincidentally, my family planted flowers in a service project for the state park by the lake last night for FHE. We didn't do it to celebrate Earth Day, just trying to help our community. :)
I do have an environmental cause I am pondering: school lunch waste. Personally, I am looking at how I can cut down on the waste in my own kids' lunches (use reusable containers instead of pre-packaged portions, for example). But, on a bigger scale, our school lunchroom has sooo much waste from school lunches. Kids throw entire plastic containers of chocolate milk away that they haven't even opened. It makes me sick.
From the school's perspective, they have to make sure each kid has a certain amount of food on their plate to ensure "proper nutrition". So, I think there should be a place for kids to return uneaten, unopened food (like milk jugs). But, then there is also the risk of the food being tampered with, and the school doesn't want the liability of that. This is why I am pondering. Any ideas?
Free ticket to heaven? Sweet! I am writing that down right now, so I can cash it in laster. "Matt said, right here on my blog on EARTH DAY even, so you have to let me in!"
Do I still get my ticket even if I hate scrapbooking? Maybe they cancel each other out.
Rick, just out of curiosity - what is your *first* favorite holiday?
And Stephanie - they can't take things back even if they're still sealed? Call me crazy, but I wouldn't think grade schoolers would have the means or the wherewithal to re-seal those tamper-proof containers (you know, where you have to peel off the little plastic piece that goes around the lid?)
School lunches, I imagine, are a big mess, from a garbage standpoint and from a health-food standpoint. I don't have a school-age child, and when I do I will be making his lunch (you should totally check out www.laptoplunches.com for good lunch-packing stuff).
They use the ones with the twist-off top, but you're right, if they use a tamper-proof top, then they wouldn't need to worry about that. I need to email the principal and ask about it. Thanks for the website, too. School lunches are a hassle. Health-wise I think we do okay - natural PB and all-fruit jam on whole wheat bread, natural applesauce or a piece of whole fruit, string cheese, either milk or 100% juice, and then a treat (cookie or something). I figure I can't deprive my kids of everything. :)
Heck no, that sounds like a great lunch to me! We're big, big PB&J fans around here (well, sunflower butter and honey usually, but you get the idea...)
Do any of you environmentalists think that ethanol production has anything to do with the current global food shortage??
Is going green doing more harm than good? Just wondering what your thoughts are.
I definitely think grain ethanol is impacting global food supply. Yes, it would appear that going green in this particular fashion is doing more harm than good.
Any time you have to develop new technology, it's going to be some trial and error, some "one step forward two steps back". Part of the problem is that, according to the science, climate change is happening very rapidly so there's a lot of pressure to come up with solutions quickly.
Of course, what it comes down to in part is that people want to change their lifestyle as little as possible, hence we keep using the same cars we have, with the same total dependence, just with a different fuel. I don't think it's going to be that simple, although that would be great. My car is very convenient, and I'd love it if "they" could come up with a car that is truly environmentally friendly.
It all depends on how you approach it. "Going green" by throwing away everything you have and replacing it with a new "green" version is still making a lot of garbage and perpetuating the consumerist mindset, if you see what I mean.
Rick, I have found an environmental cause I want to financially support (and I am sure there are more out there - I just need to find them). My cause? National and state parks. We have a lake near us with a national park on it. We've been doing some service projects there with our ward. The ranger told us that all the money they collect as fees for entrance into the park goes directly to the federal government. They also receive an allotment from the government, but it has no relation to the fees they collect. Under President Bush, the funding to the park has decreased dramatically (something like 50%). They don't have enough to do basic maintenance. And raising the fees to the park wouldn't help because they don't see that money. They have no incentive to increase attendance at the parks. They are relying on community service to do projects, but noone really knows that (I assumed that my entrance fee would pay for stuff like that).
I find this irritating. I don't mind paying taxes for things like this (parks that benefit the public), but knowing that the tax money I pay is wasted on so many entitlement programs and contracts (not the military - I want MORE money to go to the soldiers) makes me want to pay no money in taxes at all. Where is the accountability? I admit this is one area of McCain that sounds appealing - the fact that he wants to crack down on wasteful spending. I sincerely hope he means it.
Just wanted you to know that I do have a bit of an environmental heart. :)
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