Forty Earth Days Later

I spend a lot of time reflecting on how much the world has changed since I was a kid.

That's largely due to the fact that my only child is exactly forty years younger than I -- a long enough period to describe my childhood as ancient history (and not just in my daughter's eyes).

It doesn't help that she is a student at the very same middle school I attended in 1970.

Today is the 40th anniversary of the first Earth Day. I wish I could say I remember that first one well, but in truth, the only thing I recall is sitting in my algebra class that day and reading a book.

In April of 1970, the newly formed United Teachers of Los Angeles was on strike, and the administrator who was supervising that class wasn't qualified to teach algebra. This was fortunate for me, because I got an "A" for each day I was present -- and thanks to a month's worth of "A's," I ended the year with a passing grade.

So that's why I was reading a book in algebra class on that first Earth Day. It was a paperback book that I'd ordered from Scholastic (yes, that program was already around), and it was about the ecological crisis as it was back then. I remember being appalled and angry at how wasteful our society was.

I decided then I would grow up to be a good environmental citizen, and I had high hopes for my generation, the baby boomers. At that time, I thought we were in the forefront of making the changes necessary to ensure that our children would not have to face the specter of lives shortened due to rampant overcrowding and pollution.

I was a member of the campus Ecology Club in college, and in 1976, campaigned for Proposition 15, which would have closed down three nuclear power plants in California.

It lost.

It was the first of a long string of personal political disappointments, because while the sensibilities and attitudes I developed in the late sixties didn't change much over time, those of my peers did. I did not realize that what seemed like political solidarity against the ways things had been done before was merely opposition to the common threat of fighting in Vietnam. Once the draft ended, most of the baby boomers focused on themselves, and the years that followed were described by Tom Wolfe as the ME decade.

It was my generation that voted in and revered Ronald Reagan (which I have never understood, having grown up thinking of him as the enemy when he was governor of California). And when the governor that followed him tried to implement a "small is beautiful" philosophy in the state, he was ridiculed throughout the country as "Governor Moonbeam." (Jerry Brown, who is making another run for the governor's office -- which proves that everything old is new again. Only now, his opponents are painting him as a big spender.)

And as I grew up and tried to find my place in the world, my youthful idealism was eroded by the pressures of just trying to get by. I knew that "reduce, re-use and recycle" was the way to go... but it wasn't easy to store piles of old cans, bottles and newspapers for recycling in a one-bedroom apartment when you already find clutter a challenge. Housework and I are not compatible, and I confess to caring less about the effects of chemical cleaners than how easily they eradicate the dirt. And over the years, I never met a disposable cleaning product I didn't want to try -- all the while, feeling guilty because I knew what they were doing to the landfills.

I felt guilty, but I did not change -- and neither did most of the rest of the citizens... until caring for the environment became an issue of economics. The city of Los Angeles discovered it could save money by implementing city-wide recycling. I can now recycle and keep the clutter down by tossing all my newspapers, bottles and cans into the huge blue bin provided by the city for its workers to sort. My family's water usage has gone down dramatically since the DWP issued drastic anti-drought measures that mean wasting water will hit us in the pocketbook.

And solar energy  -- which should have become ubiquitous in sunny California decades ago -- may finally become a viable option as people take advantage of tax incentives and the cost of the panels starts going down.

Today, it's cool to celebrate Earth Day. In the last couple of weeks I've received dozens of pitches from companies who are trying to prove to the world that they are good corporate citizens by touting their green credentials. These range from makers of cleaning products that have launched "green" product lines to major movie studios - like 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, which is releasing the environmentally-themed blockbuster "Avatar" on DVD today.

On Earth Day 2010, we face grave environmental issues: Global warming is not just a threat, but a reality, and combating it will require tremendous resolve from all the nations of the world. I have plenty of reasons to feel frightened for the earth my daughter and her children will inhabit.

But as bad as things are now, it's probably good to remember that change can occur quicker than one would think. Thanks to measures taken in the late 60's and early 70's, some sectors of the environment have actually improved. 1970 was the year the Environmental Protection Agency was born, as a direct result of that first Earth Day (and under Richard Nixon, too!).

I know we worry a lot about chemicals in the products we consume, but prior to the EPA, there wasn't any particular watchdog on that. Phosphates in our detergents were choking our fresh water systems, dumping by factories was indiscriminate, the Great Lakes were dying, Ohio's Cuyahoga River caught on fire! 

I used to walk home from school on warm days with a pain in my chest from breathing the smoggy Los Angeles air. This is something my daughter has never experienced, and the California EPA confirms that even though we still have some of the worst air in the country, it's way better than it was when I was growing up 40 years ago (for a visual, check out the graph on this page). 

Today, my daughter will be learning geometry in her math class and most likely will discuss Earth Day in history. She likes to point out all the little wasteful things her dad and I do. She's an idealist like I was.

And she gives me hope for the future.

 I am a member of the Yahoo! MotherBoard, and Earth Day was our theme for April. Here are other MotherBoard member posts about this topic:

• It's All About Balance: Earth Day 2010
• Sweatpants Mom: My Earth Day FAIL: Or Is It?
  
• Yodeling Mamas: Maybe Green's Just Not My Color - Or Is It?
  
• Yvonne in LA: Earth Day Has Reunited Me With My Composter
• Mar Vista Mom: Now Solar Powered
• Caffeine and a Prayer: Earth Day is a State of Mind
  
• Chef Druck Musings: Living Every Day as Earth Day
• Dirt & Noise: Every Day is Earth Day
  
• Connect With Your Teens: Share Earth Day with Your Teens
• My Ladybug Picnic: You Know What? I Love This Big Earth!
• Mama Law: Not That Easy Bein' Green
  
• NancyLoo.net: Goodbye Hairspray
  
• Tales from the Crib: Going Green?
• Traveling Circus: Green Meanie
  
• Bowl Licker: En Vogue Produce and Earth Day Hullaballoo
• Teach Mama: Celebrating Earth Day; Sneaking in Some Learning
• Tippy Toes & Tantrums: For Earth Day, Green Up Your Kid's Lunch
• Laptop TV Mom: 2010 Earth Day: Common Sense and Learning
• Just Precious: Visiting a Farmer's Market Helps Teach Our Children to Make Healthy, Green Choices
• Tech Savvy Mama: Ways to Be Green with Your Technology Throughout the Year
• Hooey! Critic: Calendar Girl
  
• Finding BonggaMom: What Are You Eating on Earth Day?
• GoTo Gals: Fortieth Anniversary of Earth Day
• Melisssa Chapman's Blog: Earth Day - The Legacy We Need to Leave Our Kids

DISCLOSURE: I was not compensated for this post and have no monetary affiliation with any company mentioned in it. I did agree to mention the DVD release of the movie "Avatar" in exchange for a copy of the film, which I will be reviewing on my SoCal Stuff blog.

Comments

[Amy, YodelingMamas]

Thanks so much for sharing your experiences and hope. It sounds like you and your family are leading the way and celebrating Earth Day every day.

[Florinda]

I haven't seen that "ecology" flag in forever!

I honestly don't remember anything about Earth Day until the 20th anniversary. I was living in a Northeastern college town then - home of many green-and-crunchy folks who still believed in the '60's - and it was a Big Deal there. But I do remember a lot of environmental-awareness lessons during grade school in the 1970's, and even if I'm not as green as I could be today, I'm still under their influence (and sadly, we still have some of the same issues).

Great post, Donna - thanks for the perspective!

[Donna]

I'm glad that flag brought back memories for you, Florinda. I was worried I wouldn't find one in the public domain -- or that it was such a long time ago that I'd imagined it. (Glad to have been wrong on both counts.)

[Lorna]

Oh Donna, I was just the worst conservationist ever when I was younger---I think books and music were the only things I ever valued until I had children. I came from a family that had never hired a repairman---we just bought a new one, or went without, and I thought that was how to live life.

Dave changed my outlook on that, and now we live in a green apartment building, which doesn't yet have composting or solar panels, but soon will. The years in-between were rocky though.

[Donna]

That is so cool! I wish I could get my husband on board with more green practices. But right now, I am feeling virtuous merely for remembering to bring my reusable cloth grocery bags to the store more often now than not.

Major change happens in baby steps, and I'm afraid I'm just toddling along right now.

[Sarah Auerswald]

Donna, what a great post! I love the image of the kids sitting in class getting As for just showing up due to the teacher's strike! I mean, I hate it, but you know what I mean.

Thanks for the shout-out to me and the rest of the Motherboard!