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I thought it would be fun to reminisce a little about Earth Days in the past.
In the 70s: I can remember huge festivals back in the 70s, with concerts, speakers, and hundreds of people. Ironically, there would also be trash. Maybe not as much as after other festivals, but still it seemed wrong to me that people went to an Earth Day festival and then couldn't even bother to walk to the trash can to dispose of their sack lunch.
In the 80s: Late 80s were all about big volunteer projects. Earth Day festivals were things like "Beach Clean Up Day." One year we helped clean up a field and build a play area for kids.
In the 90s: Earth Day was now "retro." Concerts again. We had started to lose interest, and some years skipped the official events. Other years we did things like plant trees or go on bike rides.
In the 2000s: I don't recall. But I think we did something a few of those years. We had moved from California to Virginia by then and Earth Day wasn't as big of a deal.
In the 2010s: Gardening, gardening, and more gardening. In northern VA, Earth Day was all about giving away rain barrels to people in the community and going to free classes put on at the local garden center. Then, we moved to Williamsburg and Earth Day was still all about gardening but it also became a festival event once again. Lots of things going on over at William and Mary today, and a few group hikes/bicycling events. There's a concert tonight. Hope nobody litters.
ps. For those who read Lech Mazur's tweets, I love the suggestion that the type of robots we should first have should be trash picking robots. Brilliant!!
One big thing I remember growing up in the 1990s was how there was a big push to use plastic instead of paper bags to "save the trees." That focus has completely turned around with the "plastic in oceans" buzz lately.
Recycling also used to be a big thing. At least in my local area, a couple of companies that recycled and processed raw material collection have recently closed, citing China no longer buying the recycled material and contaminated waste. As far as I know, every public bin in the area that accepted plastic for recycling has been removed. Things like milk jugs and other frequent plastic waste is bulky. I've noticed an increase in my personal trash now that I can no longer recycle plastic.
One big thing I remember growing up in the 1990s was how there was a big push to use plastic instead of paper bags to "save the trees." That focus has completely turned around with the "plastic in oceans" buzz lately.
Where was this? Funny how things are different in different parts of the country.
In California, plastic bags were always out of favor, and even back in the 80s and 90s the store clerk would use them, if requested, but they'd ask you to use them over again. People who got them would often say what they were going to use them for. "I use them to line waste baskets" or "I need it for cleaning my cat box" or "I use them to sort things." I'd stand in line at the grocery store, wondering how much of this was true, LOL. I don't recall paper being out of favor, although I get the idea of people thinking paper bags=trees dying. I've sometimes heard that as an argument for bringing your own bag.
By the late 90s, "bring your own bag" became a big thing, although there were plenty of people who did that before it was trendy. The bags became the hot new give-away items at trade shows. But, that's California.
The whole plastic vs. paper bag debate brings back memories of the Doo Dah Parade in Pasadena. Anyone remember that? Along with the more famous groups like the Lawn Mower Drill Team and the Briefcase Drill Team, there used to be "The Battle of The Plastic Bags vs. The Paper Bags." People taped either the plastic or the paper bags to their clothes and then duked it out along the parade route.
Boy I miss the 60s! So many strange times, but they made me laugh.
Earth Day? Ok, well I did fill a trash bags with beer cans, Sonic cups and various fast food wrappers on my 2 mile walk this morning.
Picking up trash while you're on a walk is a great way to celebrate, whether you were actually celebrating or not! Thank you for doing that, even if it's just a little bit. Every little bit helps.
Recycling also used to be a big thing. At least in my local area, a couple of companies that recycled and processed raw material collection have recently closed, citing China no longer buying the recycled material and contaminated waste. As far as I know, every public bin in the area that accepted plastic for recycling has been removed. Things like milk jugs and other frequent plastic waste is bulky. I've noticed an increase in my personal trash now that I can no longer recycle plastic.
One thing people do is repurpose those plastic milk jugs. There are actually a few handy things you can make with them. Bird feeders for the back yard, things like that.
One thing people do is repurpose those plastic milk jugs. There are actually a few handy things you can make with them. Bird feeders for the back yard, things like that.
I usually drink a gallon of it every week. That's before you get to things like orange juice, fruit juice, big plastic containers, etc.
I'd say it's increased my "trash bulk" by at least 20%.
Picking up trash while you're on a walk is a great way to celebrate, whether you were actually celebrating or not! Thank you for doing that, even if it's just a little bit. Every little bit helps.
I do that on every walk. There's 9000 acres of federal land behind me. I've never seen so much trash from old tires to couches to tv sets. People here are absolute slobs and care nothing about the public land.
This is an ancient Indian ground too. I picture their spirits saddened about how their land is mistreated.
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