Jennifer Killpack-KnutsenEarth Day is almost upon us
I can trace back the emergence of my earth-consciousness to about 1975 or so, maybe even earlier. If you were around back then, you may remember a public service commercial that showed a montage of our polluting ways: smoke spewing into the air, someone throwing trash out the window of their car — these are the ones I remember most clearly. At the end of that montage, a Native American elder in traditional dress is watching it all, with a single tear sliding down his cheek.
I’ve since learned that the man in the commercials was an Italian actor and not a real Native American, but the message was still a good one. Even at 5 years old, or maybe even younger, I can recall being moved by that commercial and the pain and sadness suffered by those who care about Mother Earth represented in it.
Over the next few years I saw other commercials, with one featuring someone in a giant owl costume picking up trash with kids and saying “Give a Hoot, Don’t Pollute” . The slogan “Pitch In” with a graphic of a human figure throwing something in wire trash can was everywhere. When I was 7 years old I tried starting a “Pitch In” club amongst neighborhood kids, but could only get my younger brothers to join. I had the goal of picking up all the trash in my neighborhood.
In first grade, I got a third prize ribbon in that year’s Reflections Contest for my drawing of polluted air and garbage swirling around in the wind. The theme was “What the World Needs Now” and the title of my picture was “The World Needs More Clean Air”.
Ever since I first heard the term “environmentalist” I knew that I was one. One of the main focuses of my personal blog is on “green living”. I’ve switched every single incandescent lightbulb in my house for a compact fluorescent one. I buy all earth-friendly cleaning and paper products. I’ve been a vegetarian for 12 1/2 years, mainly for environmental reasons.
And yet, I still have a long way to go to be the type of environmentalist that I want to be. I take long showers, I don’t own a bike, I use more resources than I need to.
I like thinking of Earth Day as something similar to New Year’s Day - a chance to start fresh with new goals in mind, something to work towards. I’ve decided to make all of April “Earth Month”, to give myself plenty of time to think about my impact on the planet, and how I can leave it just a little bit better than I found it for my kids and the generations that follow mine.
This year, I’ll be celebrating Earth Day at Earth Jam, which will be held all day on Sunday, April 22nd at Liberty Park. All through April I’ve been focussing more posts on green living and environment, and I’m also having a little contest on my own blog to give away an Earth Day Goodie Bag as part of my commitment to be a better citizen of Planet Earth. And I really would love this year to be the year I get a bike and actually use it . . .
April 19th, 2007 at 11:51 pm
Another earth day. Though it only gets celebrated by some, once per year and other not at all. There are those that celebrated often.
Im launching a few more informative environmental blogs this year..
Why a blog? I figure it’s better than sending out 40,000 pamphlets to inform using up massive natural resources in the process.
I do most of my communications via the internet.. I know, the internet uses natural resources too. It’s a catch 22. But I honestly think that it is less excessive than wacking a few hundred tress to communicate.
Imagine the cost of sending those letters. There is the trees, the extraction of the trees, the processing of the trees, the delivery of the trees and tree products, the redelievery of the tree products, and possibly the redelivery again (manufacturer, wholesaler, distributor, retailer, consumer, post man, waste management, etc)..
There is energy energy energy used at so many levels just to send a letter.
I use an eco-friendly LCD monitor that hibernates when not being used, as does my computer. So the environmental friendliness may not be 100% environmentally friendly, I do believe it is very efficient comparitively.
I haven’t completed the process, but I have initiated a propane conversion of my car. While it still uses fossil fuels, it is a bit less taxing on the environment.
Now is this in effort to save us from global warming? Partly I guess. I mean I think that human consumption and energy usage does contribute to global warming if only just a little bit. But the bigger picture is.
Cleaner air
Cleaner water
Cleaner soil (yes, I know clean soil?? It’s all just dirty isn’t it! LOL)
Cleaner food
Brighter clearer sunsets
Healthier children
By cleaner I obviously mean less toxic. Maybe not COMPLETELY non-toxic, but atleast LESS toxic..
Will I make a difference? I hope so. But more importantly, I hope that more people collectively make a difference.
BTW- http://www.carbonfund.org/site/more/media/356 This is interesting!
Happy Earth Day!!
RE: http://utahpirateradio.com/2007/04/19/04202007-earth-day/
April 19th, 2007 at 11:56 pm
BTW- I love this: “Give a Hoot, Don’t Polluteâ€
I remember in 5th grade I won second place in a drawing contest similar to the one that you had in 3rd grade. It was of a tree that had been seriously abused, and it said something like “Us trees need more care - Please”..
It was a goofing saying and a goofy drawing, but it somehow drew the votes of my class mates and I was proud to have made a significant difference in the project of earth friendliness.
I had a cool teacher back then.
Anyway, thanks for sharing your experience with evironmental frienliness.
BTW- My wife and I just comitted to a vegitarian diet two weeks ago. It’s not as hard as I thought it would be. It just takes careful planning of meals. But over all, I feel really good about it!
How do you feel healthwise?
April 20th, 2007 at 1:28 am
It would be interesting to know exactly when they started playing the Indian with the tear running down his cheek ad. It goes WAY BACK!
April 20th, 2007 at 7:59 am
I wonder if the people down at BYU realize that today is ‘BUY DICK CHENEY A CHEEZEBURGER DAY’?
If all the protesters showed w/ nicely wrapped Carl’s Seniors and signs saying ‘Delivery for Mr Cheney’…
April 20th, 2007 at 9:52 am
Pirate:
Being a vegetarian is really easy — it just take a couple of months to get in the swing of it, and then it becomes 2nd Nature. I recomend “The Peaceful Palate” as a good starter veg. cookbook. It gives you some really easy options like eggless egg salad (main ingredient: tofu), tuna-free tuna salad (main ingredient: mashed garbanzo beans), and several good soup and entree recipes.
When I first went veg, I felt really great healthwise. My problem is that for most of the time I’ve been veg, I’ve been a kind of junk food vegetarian. I’m addicted to sugar and I eat way too much cheese and dairy. All that takes a toll through the years.
I’ve had a handfull of bites in the last 12 1/2 years of meat, and it doesn’t taste like I remember meat tasting. It’s flavor and texture becomes foreign and disconcerting once it’s been out of your system for a while.
Caveat: Now there’s a really good reason to produce meat.
Larry: I think I read somewhere that the series of commercials featuring ” Iron Eyes Cody” began in 1971. I was a year old then, so they must have ran for at least a few years for me to be able to remember them.
April 20th, 2007 at 11:09 am
Jenni and Pirate, I just got back from a road trip to the east (I’ve been biking exclusively for nearly three years- saving energy credits for the trip) and I have to tell everybody that the factory farms in Nebraska are a travesty upon this earth. The stench of hundreds of thousands of porcine effluent is something we ‘nuklear downwinders’ would are simply not ready for. Whew!! Add the inhumane way animals are treated to any other rationale one has for going meatless. Seems the Nazi’s took a lesson from the meat processors in thier time but believe me the evolution in that agricultural segment has not slowed down in the least.
April 22nd, 2007 at 11:19 am
Well, it’s earth day!
I have been trying to find a company that will do the best job on doing a propane conversion for my car. Any recommendations?
As for the meat thing…. This one has me torn. I don’t crave meat unless I see it, but when I see it / smell it. I crave it.
These urges will probably go away in time. It’s been a few weeks is all, but it seems like longer when I am around well cooked meat.
But speaking about earth-day. The methane that cattle produce both dead and alive is crazy. This is another subject that I am torn on.
Does anyone have any reliable numbers on how humans are effecting global warming?
Sorry, I’ve got more questions than answers.
Thanks!
April 23rd, 2007 at 10:19 am
Don’t know about propane conversion. I do know someone who did a bio-diesel — but then that’s not really a conversion, all you need is a regular diesel engine.
As for the craving meat thing — it’s wasn’t especially difficult for me since I tend to be a on the squeamish side and all that I had to do to over it was to think about where the meat came from. I did still have some cravings now and then. There are two suggestions I have to help. 1) while you are transitioning, use the most meat-like veggie products, like Morningstar Farms’ Grillers or Quorn “chicken” products. 2) If you absolutely have to have meat on occasion, eat it and don’t think that you’ve failed at vegetarianism. I went through a brief phase a couple years into mine where I would get a meat sub here and there for about 2 months. I then got over it. I know at least 2 or 3 people who have told me that when they got the cravings a few years into it and ate some meat and then felt that they had quit being veggie and went back to meat eating. I believe that phase is temporary. I haven’t craved meat at all since that two-month period several years ago.
Another way to go about it is to decrease meat gradually, rather than all at once. Even if every American decreased meat eating by 1 day a week, it would have tremendous positive impact on our environment.
As for human impact on global warming, it depends on a lot of factors. Eating meat or not, eating local or not, home energy usage, car usage are all factors. I don’t have any sites that calculate it, but it seems that it would be easy to find something by googling.