Campfyre Stories

I went to this Earth Day celebration on Saturday.  It was hosted by the local food co-op and, I suppose, I expected it to be more than it actually was.  Sure, there were homemade crafts and free workshops and informational tables set up, but there were just so many things that were glaringly wrong to me that it gave me a headache.

The first thing you have to understand is that I know a lot of people who believe very strongly in organic foods, naturopathic medicines, environmental conservation - and who actively DO something about that.  My mother has been an activist for as long as I can remember and tries to ingrain the idea of giving back and taking care of the earth to everyone she teaches.  I like to think she’s effective, at least to some degree.  But I am losing my point.

I went to this Earth Day celebration - at the co-op - and there were TONS of people.  Well, actually, no, there were tons of cars.  Few of which were fuel-efficient, many of which were oversized and only carrying one or two people (including the driver).  Where were the rows of bikes?  Where were the people who walked?  Instead there was a parking lot so overfilled that cars were idling as they waited for a space to open up.  Heh.  Irony.

There was nowhere in the celebration area to get drinks (water!  on a hot day!) or to get food until later, so I went into the co-op to grab some lunch.  It wasn’t until I was finished eating that I discovered that there were no recycling facilities available in the area.  Even mainstream events offer areas for empty bottles and cans, but the only thing available for disposal was a giant dumpster in the middle of the parking lot.  I also was a little disconcerted at how much waste was generated by my fallafel salad platter.  A full pie tin wrapped in Saran Wrap.  Sure, it crushes, but shouldn’t I be able to compost and recycle at an Earth Day celebration?  The facilities to do so were simply not made available to us.

As I baked in the sun, both from above and from the blacktop below, I noticed that few people were paying attention to sun screen.  I took care of myself and my niece, but only once did I hear a mention of a reminder for others.  I also didn’t hear much in the way of reminders for people to keep hydrated.  Ok, sure, we’re out of practice, since we haven’t had this kind of sunshiny weather for 6 months, but doesn’t caring for the environment mean taking care of ourselves as well?

I went to an Earth Day celebration and all I could see was rampant hypocrisy and a lack of planning.  It seems to me, if you’re going to go to the extent of organizing an event to raise awareness of environmental issues and ways to be pro-active, then the simple and accepted methods should be in place.

For my part, I arrived in a car that carried 5 people and I walked home.  Since I couldn’t find recycling on site, I took mine with me.  But after seeing all those idling cars and all the trash that went directly into the dumpster, I find myself wondering just how small of a minority I was a part of…  especially in the midst of people who like to think they’re doing their part by shopping at the co-op.

Maybe I’m a harsh judge, but I can only know what you show me, and at an event such as this, what you showed me was quite sad and pitiful, indeed.