In April 1970, I was privileged to participate in the very first Earth Day activities. A group from our high school cleaned up a section of a local creek and restored it to its natural condition.
We even made the six o’clock news, which was quite an accomplishment in those dark days of the war in Viet Nam and its associated protest movement.
Environmental awareness was in its infancy, but the national grass roots movement made it an instant priority. It was time to clean up America.
In the year 2011, we like to think of ourselves as environmentally responsible. And while we may separate our aluminum cans and glass bottles, both of which are relatively inert, we actually produce more potentially toxic refuse than ever.
The number of electronic devices, plastic water bottles, lawn and yard chemicals, and the use of insecticides and pesticides have grown exponentially since we became “environmentally aware.”
Personal automobiles got bigger and bigger as did houses, increasing the demand for fossil fuels to propel and heat and cool them.
We talk a good talk. But now, FORTY-ONE years after the first Earth Day, it’s time to walk the walk and get real.
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