Earth Day Plus Forty

On the first Earth Day, I was a senior in high school and there was a lot of energy available for action in support of a good cause. In the region of New Hampshire where I live, the Keene High School took the lead and organized an event, to which they invited other high schools. A group from Peterborough, where I went to school, organized to put together a display for the Keene event, but that did not seem to be enough, so we added action.

On the Sunday, April 19, we started early in the morning at Peterborough High School and walked and collected trash along the side of NH Route 101 from Peterborough to Keene, about 20 miles. It took all day. There were probably about 30 kids involved, along with some adults, and we did a great job. We also got a lot less press and recognition than any of us thought we would or should have.

I drove most of that route when I was in New Hampshire recently and major changes have been made to improve the road and to make the travel time, by car, much shorter. There are new businesses and houses along the way and some of the old familiar places have grown and morphed and are now unrecognizable. There is still litter along the road.

Like most things in the late sixties and early seventies Earth Day seemed to me and my friends to be the beginning of an earth-changing movement. We had gathered, were taking action to make the world a better place, and it would be a better place because of what we did. Things have improved over the years. Things that seemed to be totally normal to us, like cigarette smoke, sewage draining into rivers, and gas guzzling cars are no longer acceptable. Even though there was still trash on the side of Route 101, there seemed to be less of it, and there were several miles that had been “adopted” by local groups and businesses, so they were looking spiffier than they had been forty years ago. I noticed there were recycling bins at the side of the road in places, waiting to be picked up, and everyone one of the “dumps” we used to throw away the collected litter in 1970 has been closed, every town now operating a Transfer Station!

There seems to have been a rebirth of Earth Day activities lately, with more towns restarting their litter pick-up efforts, and more local people aware of Earth Day and what it celebrates. That is a good thing. We are surrounded by such beauty and easily forget what a gift it is.

We did not completely change the world on that first Earth Day. There is still plenty to be done to make the earth cleaner and safer for everyone. But our efforts were part of something larger that has kept moving and changing, bringing awareness and action that has benefitted everyone on the planet.

Happy Earth Day +40