Action, Not Words

Well, Earth Day is over. All the news sources have had their innocuous 'Green' reports like CBC/BC who wanted to know “Who do you think is the greenest person in Vancouver?” The LA Times featured a Travel article, Top 10 responsible travel tips for Earth Day, and there were eco-tips from Macy’s, “Switch from incandescent to compact fluorescent, long lasting, energy saving, one bright idea.” Many op-ed pieces were written, some of which were no more than a rearrangement of words that have already been written before. And I found myself becoming angry when I read a manipulated piece of misinformation called, Junk Science: A New 'Green' Body Count Begins. I was all ready to jump into the middle of things… then I stopped. Isn’t that part of the problem? Too many voices all shouting at the top of their lungs and no one listening? It has become a war of words, and there will be no winners – only consequences. So rather than add my own rant to all the others, I am simply going to give an example of what one individual can do to make a difference. Actions speak louder than words, and are far more constructive.

ACTION, NOT WORDS

At this time last year we received a letter from Bob’s sister Tracy. She lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and if you want to find an excellent example of earth-friendly advocacy, look no further. I am including her inspiring letter in its entirety.

Dear Bob and Morningstar,

Your Earth Day gift arrived yesterday to our delight! (Note: We had mailed everyone cloth shopping bags.) Thank you for thinking of us on a day that we feel strongly about, too. I had recently made a list of my efforts to help the environment and realized that I don’t usually discuss my efforts with others. Perhaps I should share my concerns and efforts more freely:

Cloth reusable bags: I purchased these bags from our Giant Eagle grocery store several months ago when they were first offered. You are correct about the problem of trying to remember to take them along to the store! I leave them in my car to remind me, and the routine is getting easier to follow. However, I have not witnessed anyone else using them in my trips to the checkout counters. I have asked the clerks, and they assure me that more and more people are using them. I hope so! The Giant Eagle bags are brown and advertise their name. I will use your bags for shopping in other stores!

Last summer we had two new energy-efficient furnaces installed in our home to compliment the new storm windows. We also keep our thermostat set low. It tends to be a little chilly in the house, so we layer our clothing and use a comforter on the bed through the winter months.

We’ve switched to compact fluorescent light bulbs, although I am concerned about the mercury in them.

We recycle glass, plastic and newspapers.

I have stopped purchasing bottled water.

I recently took a composting class offered through the Pennsylvania Resource Council. Part of the class fee included the composter. It will be an experiment this summer that I hope is successful.

We joined a local organic farm co-op with a neighbor and will be receiving fresh, local fruit, vegetables, and herbs from June 1st through the end of November. They are experimenting with a winter vegetable program, too. This coincides with my efforts to buy more local, organic foods in general.

Teresa and I have been carpooling and shopping for each other and one other neighbor to cut down on fuel usage and the number of trips to the stores. I would eventually like to purchase either a hybrid vehicle or a more fuel-efficient one. But for now, I need to make my current vehicle last a while longer.

We have planted many trees, bushes, flowers and vegetable gardens on our property.

Jack, AJ and I have participated for years in the annual Ohio River Sweep each June. We help pick up litter along the Ohio River banks.

We pick up litter along the local roadsides throughout the year. This past Earth Day weekend, as in previous years, I registered with the Great Pennsylvania Cleanup Day program to pick up litter along the road in front of the Giant Eagle and Home Depot shopping area. I spoke with the managers of these two stores about our litter cleanup day and asked them to post a notice to their employees to volunteer with us. (Their stores cause the majority of the litter in the area, either directly or indirectly.) By registering with the state website for the Cleanup Day, it is posted on their website and anyone can join us. However, Jack and I were the only ones to show up for our stretch of the roads! We worked for almost two hours and collected 10 bags of litter.

I have found that once I started to pick up litter, it irritated me more and more to see how much of it could be found in the Pittsburgh area! I am ashamed for our city that has once again been named the #1 Most Livable City in the U.S.! It is also ironic that the Pennsylvania Resources Council located here in Pittsburgh, originated the Litterbug character in 1952! Our city will celebrate its 250th birthday in 2008, and I really think the city officials should take a serious look at the litter problem. How can we expect people to care about the environment, if they don’t even respect their neighborhoods and communities? Our fines are relatively low for littering and rarely enforced. In my travels around the country and abroad, I have not seen much litter, so I know that we can make a change here. I have done a little research on the internet about litter.

PennDOT spends $10.1 million dollars a year cleaning up litter along roadsides! I don’t believe we hear or see the anti-litter campaign on television, billboards, news media or in classrooms as much as we did when I was younger. I have a dream to make a short DVD about litter with ugly photographs of litter juxtaposed with beautiful scenes of nature to be used as an educational tool for discussion, especially in our classrooms. I actually started taking some photos last year, but I just think I’m out of my league for moving forward. However, I do think there is a need and a market, because I haven’t found such a tool in my research. It could be I just haven’t looked in the right places.

Well, enough about litter! We thank you again for thinking of us on Earth Day. Your gift will be used with pleasure and with the knowledge that we are united in an environmental effort. Now I am going to work in my garden on this beautiful, sunny day in Pittsburgh. Have a great day!