2008 Woodie Awards
It's Almost Earth Day: Do You Know Where Your Recycling Bin Is?
Elizabeth Pusack
Issue date: 4/20/06 Section: Features
- Page 1 of 1
Of all the weird holidays we are expected to toot horns and don hats for in April -- Anti-Circumcision Day on April 1, National D.A.R.E. day on April 13, and World Tai Chi and Qigong day on the 29 -- Earth Day of late has sunk to the bottom of our celebratory agenda. This is not to say that we should not do whatever it is we ought to do to appreciate un-circumcised people, drug education officers and slow meditative physical exercises, but April 22, the day on which we celebrate the Earth -- home to everyone with or without foreskin, on or off drugs and Qigong -- should not be a day off.
According to earthday.gov "Earth Day is a time to celebrate gains we have made and create new visions to accelerate environmental progress. Earth Day is a time to unite around new actions. Earth Day and every day is a time to act to protect our planet." If you have too much orgo homework to be creating new visions on a Saturday afternoon, the least you can do is wear green and not litter.
For those of us not in orgo. there are myriad Earth Day events around campus with our name on them including an Earth Day Festival on Chapin Lawn from 11:00 a.m to 3 p.m. on April 22, a Sustainability at Smith panel discussion from 12:00 to 1:00 in CC 103-104, a poetry reading at 4:00 on Friday hosted by Clean Energy for Smith and last but most certainly not least a showing of "Fern Gully" on Tuesday in Seelye 109. Who among us cannot spare a few hours to cheer on Crysta in her quest to save the world from evil Hexxus? Not only a prime specimen of cinematic excellence, this movie also has the power to effect change and is single-handedly responsible for several milk jugs full of hard-earned pennies shipped off to the Audubon Society and the like by one little girl who knew nothing about environmentalism but just really wished she were a sexy fairy.
Undoubtedly, many of you own "Fern Gully" and the sequel, are coordinating the panel discussion on sustainability, gasp at even the thought of putting a cigarette out on the sidewalk and habitually bellow, "Everyday is Earth Day!" Although John McConnell, founder of Earth Day believes his Holiday should take place on March 21 as opposed to April 22, he is right in saying that a singular earth day is needed to increase the benefits of Earth Day and its influence. In other words, just because you do nice things for your mom every day doesn't mean you can ignore her birthday. After all, we do not call our planet Roommate Earth or Ex-Boyfriend Earth, whose birthdays may be understandably forgotten, but Mother Earth. You get the point. If you can't come to Mother Earth's birthday party, you aren't invited to mine!
Alas, if you are just a curmudgeon and celebration in any form irks you to no end, at least pick up a worm off the sidewalk and return it to the relative safety of Chapin Lawn. Who knows, someday you may be in need of a giant, seemingly omnipotent hand to come to your rescue. As the Magi Lune sagely and famously states in "Fern Gully," "There are worlds within worlds, Crysta. Everything in our world is connected by the delicate strands of the web of life, which is a balance between the forces of destruction and the magical forces of creation." Happy Earth Day one and all!
According to earthday.gov "Earth Day is a time to celebrate gains we have made and create new visions to accelerate environmental progress. Earth Day is a time to unite around new actions. Earth Day and every day is a time to act to protect our planet." If you have too much orgo homework to be creating new visions on a Saturday afternoon, the least you can do is wear green and not litter.
For those of us not in orgo. there are myriad Earth Day events around campus with our name on them including an Earth Day Festival on Chapin Lawn from 11:00 a.m to 3 p.m. on April 22, a Sustainability at Smith panel discussion from 12:00 to 1:00 in CC 103-104, a poetry reading at 4:00 on Friday hosted by Clean Energy for Smith and last but most certainly not least a showing of "Fern Gully" on Tuesday in Seelye 109. Who among us cannot spare a few hours to cheer on Crysta in her quest to save the world from evil Hexxus? Not only a prime specimen of cinematic excellence, this movie also has the power to effect change and is single-handedly responsible for several milk jugs full of hard-earned pennies shipped off to the Audubon Society and the like by one little girl who knew nothing about environmentalism but just really wished she were a sexy fairy.
Undoubtedly, many of you own "Fern Gully" and the sequel, are coordinating the panel discussion on sustainability, gasp at even the thought of putting a cigarette out on the sidewalk and habitually bellow, "Everyday is Earth Day!" Although John McConnell, founder of Earth Day believes his Holiday should take place on March 21 as opposed to April 22, he is right in saying that a singular earth day is needed to increase the benefits of Earth Day and its influence. In other words, just because you do nice things for your mom every day doesn't mean you can ignore her birthday. After all, we do not call our planet Roommate Earth or Ex-Boyfriend Earth, whose birthdays may be understandably forgotten, but Mother Earth. You get the point. If you can't come to Mother Earth's birthday party, you aren't invited to mine!
Alas, if you are just a curmudgeon and celebration in any form irks you to no end, at least pick up a worm off the sidewalk and return it to the relative safety of Chapin Lawn. Who knows, someday you may be in need of a giant, seemingly omnipotent hand to come to your rescue. As the Magi Lune sagely and famously states in "Fern Gully," "There are worlds within worlds, Crysta. Everything in our world is connected by the delicate strands of the web of life, which is a balance between the forces of destruction and the magical forces of creation." Happy Earth Day one and all!
Be the first to comment on this story