Earth Day
2008 Announcement
Earth Day, 2008, will be celebrated in Springfield by a month of hands-on-work projects and educational opportunities.
Highlights:
- Dickerson Park Zoo will announce the recipient of their annual Earth Hero Award during their Party for the Planet from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on April 19.
- Springfield Conservation Nature Center will be hosting both educational activities and hands-on work projects for all ages.
- Springfield/Greene County Choose Environmental Excellence will present their annual environmental stewardship awards at a luncheon hosted by the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce on April 18. Several groups sponsor awards to recognize exemplary behavior that protects and preserves our environment.
- To protect our air quality and raise awareness of the need to do so, Rick’s Automotive, 2121 S. Campbell, will partner with the Community Partnership of the Ozarks Environmental Collaborative Ozarks Clean Air Alliance to offer free automotive emission and fuel system check-ups, checking gas caps and other items that can negatively impact our air quality. Participants will receive a car-care goodie bag. The event is from l0 a.m. to 2 p.m.
- The Discovery Center of Springfield will host a free day, including educational exhibits and activities from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on April 19, sponsored by Springfield/Greene County Choose Environmental Excellence and underwritten by Fisk Transportation.
- Volunteers, including Master Gardeners of Greene County and Missouri Master Naturalists, Springfield Plateau Chapter, will install a living green roof from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., April 18 and 19, at the Green Circle Shopping Center construction site, 4221 S. National Ave.
- The Computer Recycling Center will host an E-waste collection from 9 a.m. t 4 p.m. on April 19 at their location at 1434 N. National Ave.
- The third Reforest the Ozarks event, offering 1,250 trees for sale for $l0 each will take place at the Ozarks Entertainment and Event Center, sponsored by KOLR-10, Ozark Greenways, Inc., City Utilities, Springfield Public Works, Tree City USA Citizens Advisory Committee, RBX Trucking Company and Empire Bank.
Many other activities, cleanups, recycling drives and educational activities take place throughout the month of April. For a complete, up to date listing, visit www.OzarksEnvironment.com. Sponsored by Springfield/Greene County Choose Environmental Excellence.
For more information, contact: Barbara Lucks, City of Springfield, (417) 864-2005 or blucks@springfieldmo.gov.
Download a detailed list of local events (PDF).
Other Resources
|
Earth Day Background
Earth Day was “founded” in 1970 by Gaylord Nelson, a former governor of Wisconsin. He wanted to organize a nationwide public demonstration so large it would force environmental issues to the forefront of the nation's political agenda.
Ten percent of the nation's population or approximately 20 million people
participated in the first Earth Day. Public support resulted in important
environmental legislation including the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act.
By 1990, the 25th Anniversary of the first Earth Day, an estimated 200 million
people, worldwide, took part in the Earth Day activities.
Earth Day is an opportunity for groups and individuals of all ages, interests,
ability and energy levels to reaffirm a commitment to a belief in stewardship of
our environment and the moral obligation to pass on the resources of our planet
to future generations.
The history of environmentalism begins well before the history of the first Earth
Day in 1970. In 1948, Aldo Leopold, a former U.S. Forest Service official and
University of Wisconsin professor, wrote Sand County Almanac. This work
made a defining impact on former Supreme Court Justice William
O. Douglas and Secretary of the Interior, Bruce Babbitt.
In 1965, the May 22 issue of Saturday Review was a special issue entitled “The
Fouling of the American Environment” authored, in part, by Secretary of the
Interior, Stewart Udall.
And, in 1962, Rachel Carson wrote Silent Spring, a work some consider to be the
major environmental event of the decade. Awareness and concern for the
deterioration of our environmental quality of life was beginning to be felt.
In Springfield, we will celebrate Earth Day on Saturday, April 19 and Tuesday,
April 22. In addition, Earth Day activities are planned for the entire month of
April, including beautification projects, clean-ups, and the recognition of a local
“Earth Hero” and businesses and individuals who “Choose Environmental
Excellence.”
Earth Day, 2008, finds Springfield with its first completed “green building”
project and a “low impact development” project underway, increased awareness
about protecting our water quality AND quantity, an ever-growing appreciation
for parks and greenways.
The release of the “State of the Environment in Springfield/Greene County
Report” assesses the health of our environment and offers recommendations for
future efforts.
For the first time in our history, our air quality is now a source of concern, as
federal limits have been reduced as more evidence of the negative connection
between air quality and human health becomes known. The Ozarks Clean Air
Alliance, a subcommittee of the Community Partnership of the Ozarks
Environmental Collaborative, made up of stakeholders throughout our region is
working to be proactive in our efforts to improve our air quality.
Still recovering in the aftermath of an historic 2007 ice storm, we have a new
appreciation for our precious trees — many that are now lost or wounded and an
increased dedication and determination to “reforest” our community.
The goal of the Earth Day activities is not only to accomplish the good works of
the day, but to introduce people to new groups and new activities, with the hope
that they will want to make environmental activism a part of their every day life
— not just for this one day of the year.
|
