Earth Day-April 22nd
By Albert B. Kelly
This April 22nd,
marks the 44th Earth Day observance here in Bridgeton and around the
globe. We’ve certainly come a long way since then. For those of us who are old
enough to remember 1970; the Baltimore Orioles won the World Series, Nixon had
the military invade Cambodia, the National Guard killed student protestors at
Kent State and Jackson State, Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin died, the Partridge
Family debuted on TV, the Dow opened the year a smidge over 800 (now it’s above
16,000) and the first Earth Day marked what many believe to be the birth of the
modern environmental movement.
If nothing else, Earth Day
has served to remind us all that we live in a fragile environment and we inhabit
a world of finite resources. It is indeed telling that we should need a day to
summon and fix our attention on our surrounding environment; waterways, air,
land, soil, vegetation…but we do. In some ways I’m not surprised. Our relationship
with the environment, especially in this country, is as consumers more than
anything else.
Often, I don’t think we
have an adequate appreciation of our environment. For many of us our idea of
hunting is aisle 6 at the supermarket, planting consists of a potted house
plant, our relationship with the weather takes place at 11:00pm watching the
weather report, and our connection with water comes courtesy of a bottle or a shower
head. To the extent that this is true, it means that we’re often too far removed
from nature, insensitive to its rhythms, and only aware of it in as much as we
seek to tame it or control it- or curse it when we fail to do either.
That said; I am encouraged
because in recent years we’ve started to have some serious discussions on
everything from renewable energy, to climate change and on the local level;
reclaiming Brownfields sites and recycling.
Here in Bridgeton, we’re
working with state agencies and developers to put forward plans to reclaim some
former Brownfields sites, both as way to expand the tax base, but also to eliminate
contamination. My emphasis over many months has been to combine the natural
beauty of our city park environment with the demands and dictates of economic
development. Even as we speak, we’re working to adjust our curbside recycling
program to maximize recycled items, lower tipping fees, and extend the life of our
County landfill.
We’ve also had the good
fortune to see some of our high school students out regularly in the community
on clean-up days as they remove trash from our roadways and pick up litter
along the Cohansey River. We’ve also gotten the recent good news regarding FEMA
funding which will allow us to restore Sunset Lake and the Raceway; a small
slice of “environment” we’ve all missed over the last 2 years.
I guess my point is this;
whether we’re talking about improving our recycling, preserving the bluffs
along the Cohansey, developing our natural assets in City Park, restoring a
former Brownfields site, pursuing a more environmentally appropriate
alternative like CNG, or teaming up with students on clean-up days; everything
we do locally is part of a much larger environmental fabric. No one thing will
make the big difference; but a lot of small things, done well and done
consistently will, when joined to the efforts of others, protect the fragile
world we live in.
Think about that the next
time you’re about to do one of a hundred things that could impact our water,
air soil, trees, or wild life. It starts with the little stuff; the frequency
with which we fertilize or water our lawns, properly disposing of old motor oil
after we drain it, the use and disposal of household chemicals, preparing trash
and recyclable materials for pick-up at curbside, walking more instead of
driving when feasible, and so much more.
It’s only fitting then that
Earth Day should prompt us to pause and consider our immediate environment; how
we live in it and how we interact with it. We’re making some progress to be
sure, but we have more work to do; as a community, in municipal government, but
mostly as individuals. Let that be the “takeaway” from Earth Day 2014.