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Celebrations
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by earthguy on April 22, 2008
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Happy Earthday everybody! Is anybody doing anything special on this EarthDay for the Year of the Frog? My students and I are doing one class online to reduce driving (and thus emissions). It's a little step, but it's something.
Any other ideas?
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RE: Celebrations
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by earthguy on April 24, 2008
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Well, I'm tired of seeing my 'celebrations' topic sitting unanswered on the front page, so I'll reply to myself so that at least somebody did. Next year we should all (where possibe)
1. Not drive on Earthday
2. Eat our daily meals sans meat (c'mon! Tofu ain't THAT bad!)
3. Not buy anything 'disposable'
4. Hug a tree
Sincerely,
The Liberal, tree hugging son-of-a-gun
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RE: Celebrations
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by Cro on April 24, 2008
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Josh, I remember the first earth day in 1970. I was a 15 year old student then, and in Scouts, and we had what was called SOAR, for "save our American resources." And folks have done some of that over the years, but big industry has prevented a lot of conservation also.
Conserving resources is a good thing. Having your students not drive for a day is a nice gesture, but if you really want to help, why not have them not drive for the whole semester ?
Actually, I am much more of an enviornmentalist than most folks. And I hate to see the waste of too many folks driving and not ride sharing. However, I do not like what Earth Day has become. This celebration of Soviet dictator Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov's birthday is no longer about resources, it is about Liberal verses Conservative. In other words, it has become political.
I can see that when you label yourself as an Liberal, instead of an Enviornmentalist. And I can see it in what used to be my favorite magazine, "Outside." I was a charter subscriber of that magazine, and have all the issues for over 35 years. And what used to be a great magazine that talked about outdoor adventures and ecology, has become a Liberal, Political, Bush Bashing fish wrapper. They just cant resist inserting their opinions all through the magazine. Don't think though that this is an endorsement of bush boy. I hate him as much as I hate all political folks on both sides. I dont discriminate at all.
I visited some friends of mine a few years ago, and when I arrived I found "C" sitting at the kitchen table with some of her school teacher friends. And she introducte them to me like this: "This is JohnZ, he is one of our "Conservative" friends." (was that to warn them to stop the bush bashing while I was at the table ?) At that time I realized that she had become a total nut case Liberal. She had always been a conservationist, and a caring ecologist. However, she had also fallen into the political trap that you probably have fallen into.
Being Ecologically concerned should not be about Liberal or Conservative, or Politics at all. Being a tree hugger does not require you to side with a political party.
Just for the record, I celebrated Earth Day by buying some incandesent american made light bulbs, burning a photo of AlGore and Lenin, planting some tomatos, nuking some wasps nests with petrochemical insecticides, shooting the noisey leaf blower off of the back of a wetback, and re-reading and The Monkey Wrench Gang and Desert Solitare by "Cactus Jack" Ed Abbey for the 20'th time. Try to figgure that all out, LOL ! (Political Incorrect Satire ?)
And I kind of hated seeing no one respond to your post, as I do respect the fact that you do care about resouces, and try to teach your students that. Just dont align your care for the enviornment with a politicas party, as your Liberal party is just as sleazy as the Conservative party, because they are all Politicians.
Best Regards JohnZ
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RE: Celebrations
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by tj on April 24, 2008
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1. Not drive on Earthday. Good luck on that one. Many people commute long distances to work, myself being one of them.
2. Eat our daily meals sans meat (c'mon! Tofu ain't THAT bad!) Once again, good luck. If anything, me eating a piece of steak is actually better for the environment than being a hippy, vegetarian. I crap less than someone eating tofu, thus reducing the amount of waste and amount of water needed to flush the toilet multiple times, as well as pollute the environment.
3. Not buy anything 'disposable'. You mean like, toilet paper, paper, milk, soft drinks, anything wrapped in plastic that gets tossed away (like tofu cartons). Again, good luck.
4. Hug a tree. Funny. I know many hippy people that say that. I usually tell them to get a job and be a productive member of society. Treehuggers are usually equated to PETA people in my book. Not saying you're one of them. But the one's I know do nothing but smoke pot, bitch about what everyone else does wrong, and complain about how the world should be a better place.
Not what you wanted to hear, but my opinion nonetheless.
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RE: Celebrations
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by earthguy on April 24, 2008
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Fellas,
I am working on making my degree available online. This should reduce miles driven considerably, but that was not the selling point to my administration. They think (and may be right) that I can reach more students that way (which means more conservationists to me, more money to the college). As far as me calling myself a liberal, that is a mantle that others have placed on me. If you want to get right down to it, I am a walking contradiction to most people. I teach Evolution and Sunday School with equal vigor. I don't want to get into a political/religious discussion here, I am just clarifying my earlier self-satiration.
Two other points that I would like to make. Meatless Monday can be quite a stisfying thing (especially when its veggie quesadillas - yum!) and could make a positive impact on the planet AND the price of food if a few more Americans would give it a try. Secondly, while I can't speak with any authority on the matter, I think that the April 22nd date was chosen for reasons other than those previously mentioned. Gaylord Nelson, one of the founders of Earthday, said this about choosing April 22nd "On any given day, a lot of both good and bad people were born. A person many consider the world’s first environmentalist, Saint Francis of Assisi, was born on April 22. So was Queen Isabella. More importantly, so was my Aunt Tillie". For Example, the first Nobel Prize was given on my birthday in 1901, a mere 77 years before my birthday. Coincidence? Some may say yes, but I know better ;)
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