Reflections on Earth Day, 2004Shalom, and welcome to another issue of Tikkun Tips. A bi-weekly nugget of Eco-Jewish though from your friends at the Teva Learning Center.
For the past 34 years, April 22nd has been known as Earth Day – marking the anniversary of the beginning of the modern environmental movement. According to the Earth Day Network, Earth Day founder Gaylord Nelson, then a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin, proposed the first nationwide environmental protest "to shake up the political establishment and force this issue onto the national agenda." "It was a gamble," he recalls, "but it worked."
At the time, Americans were slurping leaded gas through massive V8 sedans. Industry belched out smoke and sludge with little fear of legal consequences or bad press. Air pollution was commonly accepted as the smell of prosperity. Environment was a word that appeared more often in spelling bees than on the evening news. (Source: Earth Day Network)
Now, almost every politician makes reference to a clean environment as a priority when running for office. There are numerous government and non-government organizations who have gained recognition and prominence thanks in part to Earth Day and its effective infiltration into the American consciousness.
I spent a few hours yesterday tilling the earth with a group of 7th graders. We were working on a new bed for the garden at their school, the Saligman Middle School outside of Philadelphia. Through digging, shoveling dirt onto each other and screeching when they uncovered worms and other insects, these students were transformed into gardeners. One of them kept on reciting, “Must till the earth, must till the earth.”
In an ideal world Earth Day would look entirely different. It would not be used “to shake up the political establishment and force this issue onto the national agenda.” Rather, it would be a celebration of the mutualistic relationship between humans and the earth. It would give us an opportunity to honor and pay tribute to the our living, breathing host. For many people, that is what Earth Day is. But unfortunately, it is necessary as a political and activist tool, a day to spread environmental awareness and concern.
A biology professor of mine has a theory about saving the earth. It won’t happen, he says, by roping off areas and declaring them “pristine,” or “conserved.” People will always find ways, legal and otherwise, to circumvent these laws. Conservation will only happen when people understand why it is essential to have pristine regions and conserved land. It will only become more than a political talking point when people see the connections between their choices and the impact on our world. As long as nature is seen as the “other,” some of which to be protected by a red felt rope, and other parts to be exploited, manipulated and destroyed for our physical enjoyment, Earth Day will continue to be a fight and not a festival.
So go explore someplace new to you. Interact with a new kind of animal or plant. Breathe in the sweet smelling spring air. Discover another reason why you love the earth and share that with someone who might not be as appreciative as you are. When we learn to see the earth as an extension of ourselves, we will be ready to begin saving it.
Signing off...Nati Passow
Teva Learning Center
307 7th Ave Suite #900
New York, NY 10001
teva@tevacenter.org
www.tevacenter.org
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