So it’s April 22. Earth Day. No biggie. Not much attention – especially since it comes just a week after Income Tax Day. Hard to get people revved up about anything except when their “Economic Stimulus Check” arrives from WDC. “Green” in any form is hot stuff, but asking people on the street what they’re doing to celebrate Earth Day gets lots of weird looks and really tacky comments. The useful (and printable) verbal stuff is mostly about planting something – like a tree or shrub. Should have done that on Arbor Day awhile back, but guess that’s better than doing nothing now.
Maybe something better would be getting their butts out of their 8 mpg SUVs and walking to the next-door neighbor’s. Or bicycling to the post office. If that’s too much of a life-style switch, try driving a Hyundai, not a Hummer on your next latte run. Loses the “Commanding Presence,” but also about a half-ton of hydrocarbons.
And what about recycling? Some of you say you’re doing it, but why isn’t everybody – and 100 percent of the time. You know, containers for paper, cardboard, glass, aluminum and plastic. Separated in the manner prescribed by the government in charge of where you live. That way it actually gets picked up and put on the path to becoming something new – not just filling up our landfills faster than they are already filling with stuff that still can be used – at least by folks like Bruce Larson or Tress Turner. Striking creations from things like broken porch railings, miscellaneous car parts, a box of bolts and some beach debris. It’s art and Earth-friendly too.
Don’t overlook small things. What are you using for cleaning around the house? Is it biodegradable and harmless? Or is it some kind of toxic petroleum product that works no better and not only can contaminate soil and water, but also contributes in a tiny way to raising the cost of gasoline by diverting a few drops of oil to another use? Baking soda, citrus juice and vinegar make really great cleaners, cost almost nothing and if slopped around do no more harm than spilling a tossed salad and a Coke.
What’s neat about what I’ve pushed so far is that these are all things that we all can do right now, with little special preparation or lifestyle changes and without much involvement of anybody else. YOU can do something for the EARTH. Sure, you have to have the city or county pick up your recyclables, but they’re coming around anyway. And you do have to buy one of those Hyundai Accents (33 mpg) and somehow dispose of your (11 mpg) H2, but for the good of the Earth (and your bank account) the effort is well worth it. Right? BTW, I’m not a shill for Hyundai nor dislike Hummers more than any other gas guzzler – it’s just that the two vehicles pretty much represent automobile extremes in the U.S. (and the names have a certain resonance).
So let’s move on and look at community-wide things that can help our planet. Like using renewable energy or at least the cleanest possible sources for powering our towns and cities. Right now, around here most electricity is generated using coal. Cheap and abundant, but as burned in local power plants it’s the dirtiest source of energy commonly available – peat for one is worse, but rare.
Where are the solar arrays, windmills, and tidal turbines or even biodiesel generators? For the first three, the answer is, “Not here!” Local Greenies, I have seen the roof-top wind generator in Fairhope, but one tiny turbine does not a trend make. However there is a bright spot in Daphne with biodiesel. Starting with an individual initiative, the city is now making its own fuel from waste cooking oil. Running city vehicles (“My Pickup Smells Like French Fries”) and facility generators on the stuff – straight or mixed with regular petro-diesel. There’s even a fatty by-product used to make soap in school science classes. Better yet, the fried-food residue isn’t being poured down the drains to clog the sewage treatment plant, causing overflow into the bay. This isn’t just Earth-friendly, it’s Earth-passionate.
But that’s just one community and one technology. With the commitment to protecting the Earth that Eastern Shore leaders often espouse, I would think that there would be more Green pilot projects and a concerted hunt for funds to support them. Not all federally-financed local projects are pork – some are serious efforts to innovate and demonstrate technologies that have national applications. These projects could be high payoff uses of federal funds on this side of the Bay – rather than being used to move sand against the tide on the other side.
Before I sign off, let me return to my wandering around asking about Earth Day. In addition to words, I got the picture that accompanies this column. I recognized the location, could identify the materials (plastic utensils), but couldn’t figure out the Earth-related message. Puzzled I turned to one of Fairhope’s universal experts, a pony-tailed pedant who has an answer for everything, and asked, “What’s this got to do with Earth Day?” The instant reply, “Simple. The eating utensils are plunged into the ground – the Earth – signifying that it is the source of our sustenance and life itself.”
Guess it works. In any event, thus ends our lesson for Earth Day.
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Contact Pete Gleszer at jubilee@lagniappemobile.com.
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