earth day
Earth Day 2008 promises to offer myriad ways for Vashon Islanders to engage with the Earth, from concocting homemade fuel to cultivating homegrown veggies and from digging in the dirt to captivating the cerebral.
But first a very brief history. In September 1969, at a conference in Seattle, U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson announced that the following spring there would be a nationwide grassroots demonstration on the environment. At the behest of the senator, Denis Hayes, who grew up in Camas, Wash., left his graduate studies at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government to coordinate the event.
Thus, Earth Day, one of my favorite holidays, made its debut on April 22, 1970. The American Heritage Magazine described it as “one of the most remarkable happenings in the history of democracy,” propelling environmental protection into the national consciousness in a major way.
In 1990, Hayes, currently president and CEO of the Bullitt Foundation in Seattle, headed the first International Earth Day, which involved 200 million participants in 141 countries and, I imagine, included many of us. In Tacoma, where I lived at the time, we held our first official No-Trash-Bash, an enviro-picnic, with speakers and projects to engage the young, old and in-between in trash pick-up, recycling and other now-taken-for-granted responses.
So now it’s 2008, the Envir-onmental Protection Agency (EPA) appears to have lost its way, the polar caps are melting, and it’s easy to lose heart.
Just in the nick of time, former Island-activist Kyle Cruver, and his wife, Cynthia, lover of all-things-rural-and-food-focused, have returned to reinvigorate Earth Day in a proactive way. Kyle recently attended a Sustainable Vashon Working Council meeting, and sparks radiated as he shared his plans for Earth Day 2008 on Vashon.
In short order, Kyle turned vision into action. Thus, it is with great pleasure that Sustainable Vashon invites you to the Village Green from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 19, for an Earth Day Festival. Collaborating with the Vashon Island Growers Association and its farmer-members, whose farming prowess offers the best proof of our blessed Island abundance, Kyle has invited the following individuals and organizations to share their know-how and enthusiasm:
Wolftown, Rent-A-Ruminant, Preserve Our Islands,
Hands-on activities will be featured, including such kid stuff as birdhouse building and worm-farming.
A day of Earth Action will follow on Sunday, April 20, organized by Working Council member Hillary Crocker, who has some inventive tricks up her sleeves to focus everyone on appreciating and giving back to nature. Keep an eye out for details as she unfolds her plan.
On Earth Day itself, April 22, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Land Trust Building, the Land Trust and Sustainable Vashon will host a forum comprised of some of Vashon’s finest resources and covering a range of Earth-related topics:
• Building Green… What Does it Mean?
• Alternative
• Sustainable Housing on Vashon (Sam Hendricks, Vashon HouseHold)
• Localized Economies (Priscilla Schleigh, Giraffe)
• Preserving our Islands (Amy Carey)
• Going Native With Plants (John Browne)
Let’s welcome the Cruvers back to Vashon by showing up at these Earth Day events. Bike, walk, bum a ride and come on down to the market on April 19, and to the Land Trust Building on the 22nd. If you can’t make it to any of these grand happenings, well then, grow a row for the food bank, build your own worm bin and contact your congressional representatives about the importance of caring. Visit http://www.wecansolveit.org/content/action/ and http://ww2.earthday.net/node/84.
And finally, remember to kiss the Earth. She needs the love.
— Janie Starr, a member of Sustainable Vashon, writes occasional columns on climate change and the environment.
