Earth Day Birthday, What are We Worth Day?

by Felicia Donovan

I'm honored to be "up at bat" on such an auspicious day - the 40th anniversary of Earth Day.

I never realized that Earth Day has been celebrated for so long. According to Wikipedia, It was founded by U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson as an environmental teach-in, beginning on April 22, 1970. Wow, 1970. I remember (though I was very, very young) that anyone who cared that much about the environment back then was considered a "hippy." Groovy, Man.

Fast forward forty years and we've become a nation where weekly recycling has pretty much become the norm, where we can buy organic sheets, rubberized bark mulch, and head to the market with our reusable bags.

The efforts made since then are staggering considering the facts:

In the US 33.4% of solid waste is either recycled or composted.

The amount of recycling in 2007 alone saved the energy equivalent of 10.7 billion gallons of gasoline and prevented the release of carbon dioxide of approximately 35 million cars.

That's a lot of progress, but here's the fact I like best:

• Recycling 1 plastic bottle not only saves anywhere from 100 to 1000 years in the landfill, but also saves the environment from the emissions in producing new bottles as well as the oil used to produce that bottle.

That's one bottle. That I can and do recycle with little effort, even when out in public.

For me, Earth Day is not so much about the millions conserved and the percentage of reduction in this emission or that resource. For me, Earth Day is more about the little plastic pull-back tab on the creamer bottle that I still need to consciously remind myself to rinse and put in with the rest of the plastic goods. I believe we're all worth that small effort, as are my children, their children and all that are to come.

What is it worth to you?