EARTH DAY 2011

History of Earth Day

"It may be hard to imagine that before 1970, a factory could spew black clouds of toxic into the air or dump tons of toxic waste into a nearby stream, and that was perfectly legal. They could not be taken to court to stop it.

How was that possible? Because there was no EPA, no Clean Air Act, no Clean Water Act. There were no legal or regulatory mechanisms to protect our environment.

In Spring 1970, Senator Gaylord Nelson created Earth Day as a way to “force this issue onto the national agenda.” 20 million Americans demonstrated in different U.S. cities, and it worked!

In December 1970, Congress authorized the creation of a new federal agency to tackle environmental issues, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency."  

(Information Cited is from: http://www.epa.gov/earthday/history.htm)

RECYCLE, REDUCE & REUSE...

"Earth is a very important part of our lives. Most of us wouldn't think of polluting our bodies, yet we are polluting our planet by misuse and overuse of our natural resources. As responsible individuals we should at least do what we can to help reduce, reuse, and recycle what we can as a first step.

THE SHAKE DOWN ON SHOPPING BAGS TO BAG OR NOT TO BAG?

Marion Pellicano Ambrose

I was watching the news last night and I couldn’t believe what the big story topic was. They were discussing whether using plastic bags could actually be better than using the reusable ones. There are several arguments against what we thought were “green” bags. Some claim that after a while they release harmful chemicals into the unpackaged food we put in them. I couldn’t find any studies or real proof to support this theory, but I have a solution anyway – put your fresh fruit and produce in a produce bag before putting them in!

A second argument is that so many companies are giving these recycle-able bags away that people are starting to have too many and throw them away. Here’s a wise and novel idea – if you have enough, don’t take any more! Just because it’s free doesn’t mean you have to take it.