Polar Bear 11x14 watercolorIn 1970 for the very first Earth Day, my friend and I plotted to ride our horses to school. Back then one of the big issues (especially in Los Angeles) was smog. So we were going to do our part and ride our horses instead of riding in an air polluting automobile or school bus. We did not ride our horses to school on Earth Day, but it was a fun idea.
Other big environmental issues in the 1970s were oil spills, pesticides, wildlife extinction, overpopulation, and "global cooling"! We used to call the whole movement "ecology". What ever happened to that term? Does anyone remember the ecology flag? I embroidered one on the back pocket of my jeans.
In the 1980s, there was a big focus on recycling. I don't remember what the issue was in the 1990s, maybe we were all too self absorbed that decade to worry about the environment.
In the current decade it's global warming. But I wonder, what ever happened to acid rain? Did we solve that problem? And what ever happened to Zero Population Growth? Nobody even talks about the population any more. I don't get that, as the Earth sagging under the ever increasing weight of new humans is the root of all environmental problems.
I guess it's a work in progress that will never quite be solved. So do something today, do what you can tomorrow, because really every day should be Earth Day.
Other big environmental issues in the 1970s were oil spills, pesticides, wildlife extinction, overpopulation, and "global cooling"! We used to call the whole movement "ecology". What ever happened to that term? Does anyone remember the ecology flag? I embroidered one on the back pocket of my jeans.
In the 1980s, there was a big focus on recycling. I don't remember what the issue was in the 1990s, maybe we were all too self absorbed that decade to worry about the environment.
In the current decade it's global warming. But I wonder, what ever happened to acid rain? Did we solve that problem? And what ever happened to Zero Population Growth? Nobody even talks about the population any more. I don't get that, as the Earth sagging under the ever increasing weight of new humans is the root of all environmental problems.
I guess it's a work in progress that will never quite be solved. So do something today, do what you can tomorrow, because really every day should be Earth Day.
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3 comments:
I really love this polar bear, Caren. It's perfect for Earth Day. All I remember from 1970 is going to Fairmount Park in Philadelphia on a beautiful day with some high school friends and listening to Celia by Simon and Garfunkel at some point during the afternoon. That's because every day is Earth Day in my world and, for the most part, always has been. Just the luck of the draw with my parents, the consciousness of my crowd and my way of living - which can always be improved.
Ecology is a term we should have held onto but it's been coöpted by academia and is now used to describe non-"natural" systems. I once heard someone remark that "the environment" was not such a great term because it indicates something that surrounds us (humans) rather than a system we are born of and an intricate living part of.
Thanks for the good painted image.
Beautiful Polar bear!
I guess it's just important for all of us to remember that our little effort really is important. It can be easy to think that because you have no chance of saving the world by yourself, then it's not worth trying - but it is! Every small everyday effort counts!
Suzanne and Danielle,
Thanks for your comments on the polar bear painting for Earth Day. As Oprah once said, "Do what you can".
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