歪歪漫画

I sit on my patio overlooking the lake, hoping rain comes this weekend.

Patches of clouds waft above the lake while seagulls screech below. An explosion of wings launches five majestic swans from the lake; they fly off together. I breathe in the clean air and welcome the warm sun on my arms.

I want this world to be as beautiful for my grandchildren as it has been for me.

I鈥檝e been concerned for Mother Earth for as long as I can remember. In grade school, I was a member of the GGG (Green Grass Growers), a proactive group that tried to get kids to use the sidewalks instead of going across the lawns and contributing to erosion.

When I was a junior at St. Peter High 歪歪漫画, our teachers had put together a full day of environmental awareness activities for the first Earth Day in 1970. As a retired teacher, I think of the amazing amount of planning it must have taken to pull off a day like that. Students could sign up for presentations of their choice.

Of course, we were typical high school kids and most of us signed up for whatever our friends were signing up for. Still, I appreciate the importance the school placed on that special day. It left a lasting impression on me as I remember it 54 years later.

I recall submitting a poster for a contest. I wanted to make a point about air pollution and everyone鈥檚 ownership of environmental issues. I drew a background of smokestacks, with filthy clouds billowing into the sky. In the foreground, I drew Uncle Sam, just as James Montgomery Flagg had created him for the iconic recruiting posters during World War I: the top-hatted, bearded, earnest Uncle Sam, looking directly at the viewer and pointing a compelling finger. The caption read: 鈥淚 want you for U.S. Army.鈥�

My caption parodied a slogan from Smokey Bear: 鈥淥nly you can stop pollution.鈥� My poster turned out pretty good, I thought. I was proud to have incorporated two famous allusions into it.

That first Earth Day was celebrated 54 years ago on April 22, 1970. Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin is credited with founding Earth Day, a day of educating and increasing awareness to spur viewers to take environmental issues seriously and take action. That awareness led to the creation of organizations like the Environmental Protection Agency and to legislation like the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Endangered Species Act.

While many people resent the intrusion of government in their daily lives, it鈥檚 tough to argue against regulations for safe drinking water and clean air standards. If there鈥檚 one thing we all have in common it is that we need clean air and water to survive.

Half a century later, I fear we haven鈥檛 come far enough. Although people are more aware and better educated today and strides have been made in moving toward cleaner air and water and renewable energy, we have a great deal of work yet to do to ensure that the earth will still be livable for our children and grandchildren. As individuals, there are small differences we can make, and a lot of small differences add up.

Little thought was given in the previous century about dumping chemicals or waste into waterways or burying hazardous materials in landfills. Here in Bemidji, county and city officials have attempted to stay ahead of major issues like water filtration and have worked to clean up landfills and restore lakeshore.

Volunteers work to make up for careless people鈥檚 littering. (Thank you, highway clean-up crews.) And on our lakes each year, volunteers clean up garbage and excrement left behind by inconsiderate ice fishermen.

Beltrami County鈥檚 Waste Management program has put out leaflets with information about how much solid waste is generated in the county and how to recycle containers, fiber materials and even appliances, electronics and hazardous waste. We can all reduce waste, repurpose, donate items we don鈥檛 need, recycle and reject buying things that create excessive waste.

Another important local organization is Bemidji State鈥檚 Sustainability Office, which aims to educate and instill a passion for involvement, learning and volunteering. When my daughter graduated from UND in 2015, I helped her clean out her apartment.

Previous tenants had left behind half-full plastic jugs of laundry detergent and enough cast-off items to fill a dumpster. We took everything we could to thrift stores, but dumpsters behind every student housing area in Grand Forks overflowed with cast-offs, many perfectly usable: kitchen items, cleaning tools and products, end tables, mattresses, floor lamps and more.

A place like would鈥檝e been great for these items. Money-strapped college students benefit from donated items ranging from school supplies to clothing items, and even non-perishable foods, while students moving out have places to leave usable items they don鈥檛 want.

BSU photo

BSU has the right idea. Going Green doesn鈥檛 just mean cheering for the Beavers or celebrating Earth Day one day each year. Their sustainability program is active, applicable, practical, inspirational and ongoing and sets a great example for the community.

I鈥檓 glad to live in a community that wants to maintain and improve its air and water quality. Each night before I go to bed, I let the dog out, listen to the chirping frogs and yodeling loons, and take five deep breaths of the cleanest air I know and hope that my grandchildren can breathe this air.

Courtesy / Sue Bruns