| It might mean dressing up as a woodchuck for a parade. It might mean chanting and
waving signs at a shareholders’ meeting. It might mean leading a hike to an
endangered natural area. In April, Sierra Club volunteers will do whatever it takes to
spread the 1998 Earth Day message: “Help us defend the places we live and the places
we love.”
Members of the Sasquatch Group in Olympia, Wash., plan to don wildlife costumes and
have a good time while they spread the message: They’ll take part in the
community’s annual Processional of the Species Parade on April 17.
“It’s a joyous celebration of a community that cares about the
environment,” says group vice chair Ingrid Hansen. “All of Olympia turns out.
There are hardly any people on the sidewalk watching because they’re all in the
parade.”
In Florida, groups plan to use the Earth Day benchmark as a time to educate, celebrate
and raise money. On April 25, the Tampa Group will participate in “Ocean
Commotion” at the Tampa Aquarium. They’ll teach children about the Florida black
bear, a candidate for endangered-species listing, by helping them make bear masks.
“We’ll also try to have a low-key exhibit on the dangers of orimulsion, if we
can get away with it,” says Environmental Public Education Campaign organizer Beth
Connor, explaining that booths deemed controversial are sometimes evicted. Orimulsion is a
dirty, untested fuel that Florida Power and Light wants approval to burn.
The 10 most endangered natural areas in and around Phoenix will be destinations for
conservation outings led by members of the Palo Verde Group in Arizona’s Grand Canyon
Chapter and other environmental groups on April 18 and 19. “These are lands that are
in the path of development,” says Arizona EPEC organizer Renee Guillory. “Our
Sonoran Desert is being developed at the rate of an acre an hour. We want to save our
natural heritage.” Some of the hikes will entail trash clean-up and trail
restoration.
Another form of education — a protest — will be employed by members of the
Georgia Chapter when they rally outside the DuPont Corp. annual shareholders’ meeting
in Wilmington, Del. “We’ll be there for every shareholders’ meeting until
DuPont abandons its plans to mine titanium oxide next to the Okefenokee National Wildlife
Refuge,” says Sam Collier, associate representative in the Club’s Atlanta
office.
For something completely different, the Loma Prieta Chapter in California will use Earth
Week to kick off its “Green Teams” program, the organization of small, self-led
groups that meet weekly for six weeks to measure, discuss, and attempt to reduce
consumption of water, energy and other resources.
Ed Paynter, special events chair for the Heartlands Group in Indianapolis, Ind. reports
that on April 18 they’ll hold their sixth annual “Pullin’ O’ the
Greens” event. Volunteers will gather at Marott Park, a nature preserve, to weed-out
exotic, non-native plant species that compete with wildflowers.
And Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-Colo.) will know it’s Earth Day when 100
Denver schoolchildren present him with an environmental report card rife with Fs in
subjects like working to protect endangered species, fighting for clean air and stopping
roadbuilding in national forests.
Nearly all of these sites will be distributing EPEC postcards. The cards send the
message that President Clinton needs to take bold action to protect the environment. And
though we welcome his latest environmental proposals, they contain loopholes and
omissions.
Making a splash on Earth Day may help turn Clinton’s words into actions. So get
out your woodchuck costume — and start marching.
For more information: Contact your local
chapter or group.
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