Earth Day in Whittier
Celebration of Earth
On Earth Day, the Greenleaf Grassy Lot in Uptown Whittier hosted small booths with white canopies and 50–60 people milling about the patch of green, visiting the booths and learning more about how we can help the environment. Kids ran around on the grass while various speakers addressed the crowds and a dancing, pink dinosaur tried to attract people to the booths. The booths were set up by companies and organizations hoping to inform the public about global warming, conservation, recycling and alternative energy sources such as solar and wind power.
Not everyone who came to Whittier’s Earth Day celebration held the same beliefs about the state of the environment or even global warming. Some said it is a serious problem that is killing the planet, while others were not concerned with global warming and others still said they were unsure.
Earth Day is held on April 22nd to celebrate the environmental movement. It began in 1970 when then-Senator Gaylord Nelson (D-Wisconsin) initiated a series of teach-ins held in April to inform the public about environmental issues. Nelson was inspired to do something after the massive 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill, which many observers say denotes the beginning of the modern environmental movement. Nelson hoped the teach-ins, which first focused on on air and water pollution, would inspire folks to be more environmentally conscious.
One woman here said it was her second time at Whittier’s Earth Day event. She had come with her husband and liked to see what new ideas people had and was interested in anything that could help lower gas emission and electricity use. She had recently installed a water-conserving tap in her kitchen sink. She said she hopes that people would take this event seriously because she does believe that there needs to be changes and that the earth is in trouble.
I spoke with folks manning the Southern California Edison booth. Some people were curious if the huge energy utility was opposed to solar panels. A representative at the both named Lisa said the the company believes the way to move forward is to make greener choices, which he said her company promotes. She explained how Southern California Edison is trying to improve its machinery and upgrade its systems so when people switch to solar, the grid will remain equal and distribute energy to each customer that will maximize their choices and benefits.
A young woman at the event said that although there is a lot of talk about global warming and environmental degradation, she wasn’t too concerned about changing anything in her life. The high schooler said that the major issues wouldn’t affect her because she would be dead by the time something big happened. She also thought that a lot of the ways to conserve energy are too expensive and it’s not worth it.
A man pushing his daughter in a stroller said he heard about the event on Facebook and decided that it would be cool to learn what companies are doing for the environment. He tries to use environmentally conscious ideas in his daily life, but says that such things as cars running on hydrogen are too expensive. Smaller things like recycling and reusing items are activities that he likes to do around the house and teach his daughter about.
FarmFreshtoYou is a company that connect to several farms around the country and delivers the produce from the farms to the front door of customers. It takes the store out of the equation and it lets people know where their fruits and vegetables are from. On the website, one can find information about the farms that they work with and what types of produce you can order. Peggy, a company representative, explained how the process works and how it makes the environment better because the food is farmed without chemicals and delivered without processing. By using this website, you can create a box with the foods that you want to receive and it come straight to your door. It supports local farms and gives people organic foods that are healthy for humans.
Guest speakers discussed various ideas for how we can improve the environment. One speaker was represented ALCEN Renewable, which works with wind power. Wind power is growing around the country, but there are still a few problems such as getting the energy from the wind turbines to consumers. Someone asked if “there been any problems with people complaining that the wind turbines are obstructing views?” The ALCEN Renewable representative replied that they try to place the wind turbines in places where no one goes or lives near, therefore there are few such complaints. Other speakers included Craig R. Hover, author of A World to Come Home To: Ending Global Warming in Our Lifetime. When asked if the asked if global warming is a real concern, he replied that it was, only more severe than what is generally believed.
