by Penny Lanham
Every year on April 22nd, environmentalists gather to teach the public about environmental awareness. We set up tables and chairs inside school gymnasiums or outdoors in a community garden. We put up posters of sea turtles, globes with smiling faces, and Smokey the Bear. We set up children’s activities, such as mock grocery stores with choices of paper, plastic, or cloth grocery bags. We go bowling with empty 2-liter bottles as pins. Here, we invite kids and parents to learn how they can help to protect the planet that they live on.
As part of our teachings, we repeat little take-home-messages in the form of short phrases. These are just a few simple words that are easy to remember, and hopefully trigger your memory when you encounter a situation where you can use them. They urge you to take action for a cause. For example, the one we associate with Earth Day is often the same one we hear on Arbor Day, PLANT A TREE. That’s good! Remember that one. However, on this special occasion, we’d like you to search your memory for a few others that have been put out there. Earth Day is more than planting a tree…
- It’s about reducing waste
- wasting of Earth’s resources ultimately into trash (REDUCE & REUSE)
- waste of chemicals used in producing new bleached white paper (RECYCLE)
- waste of chemicals used to extract metal from ore when mining (RECYCLE)
- waste of petroleum used to produce new plastic while old plastic is buried in a landfill (RECYCLE)
- waste of chemicals used to treat drinking water (SAVE WATER)
- waste of oil to transport products from halfway around the world (BUY LOCAL)
- It’s about saving our bees and pollinators
- by using natural remedies in place of chemical pesticides (PROTECT POLLINATORS)
- by planting flowers and “beneficial plant” gardens (GARDEN FOR WILDLIFE) (BUTTERFLY GARDEN)
- by buying local honey and other bee products (SAVE THE BEES)
- It’s about stopping illegal dumping, especially in our creeks, rivers, lakes, and oceans (PROTECT OUR DRINKING WATER) (SAVE OUR OCEANS)
- It’s about planning our errands and carpooling (REDUCE YOUR CARBON FOOTPRINT)
- It’s about supply and demand
- recycling supplies plastic to be made into new products
- buying recycled plastic products creates a demand for the new products
- you must have both (BUY RECYCLED)
- It’s about teaching our children
- not to litter (DON’T LITTER)
- how to recycle
- how to make environmentally-responsible decisions in the future when they work a job, own a company, or vote for their leaders (GO VOTE)
Did any of these ring a bell? Did you learn some new phrases? If so, please use them when the time is right. That’s what Earth Day is all about.
Happy 50 Years of environmental awareness!