One green step at a time

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

By Rick Ruggles
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

Optimism over how man will treat the planet in the years to come prevailed at the Earth Day festival on a cool, sunny Saturday at Elmwood Park.

Thousands attended the celebration, which was both a throwback to the early environmental movement and a look at what needs to be done.

It featured a mishmash of food booths, entertainment and serious reminders that it's everyone's job to protect this polluted, overpopulated orb.

The celebration included anti-war messages and massages, body art and bongos, tie-dye and Tai Chi, and discussion of green buildings and green burials.

The first Earth Day took place nationwide 40 years ago, the brainchild of a persistent Wisconsin senator named Gaylord Nelson. The event that spotlights conservation has grown, but whether society has made real progress in the planet's behalf is debatable.

Nicolette Amundson, president of the Green Omaha Coalition, said conservation comes down to simple acts taken by individuals turning down the thermostat and using low-flow faucets and push mowers.

“Change starts with one step,” Amundson said. “Be more aware of what you use and how much you use.”

On the stage, Bobbi Holm of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension program showed the audience how to make a rain barrel to conserve water. She was circumspect, however, about whether to be upbeat.

“I don't know,” she said. “I think there are some people that really, really do a lot. And some people who their awareness isn't there yet.”

Craig Moody, chairman of the Earth Day Omaha Coalition, said he has plenty of hope. In Omaha, Moody said, an initiative is making its way toward the City Council to give environmental considerations more weight in the city's long-term plan.

“I've moved past hope,” he said. “We're doing it now.”

Two 15-year-olds, Shira Sterling and Charlie Encell, sat on a blanket eating sunflower seeds and popcorn.

Young people “have more of an interest in helping out the environment than the last generation did,” said Charlie, who had an acoustic guitar with him. He noted with irony the plethora of polluting plastic bottles at the Earth Day festival.

Still, he said, it was nice. “Free date,” he said. “Perfect day.”

Contact the writer:

444-1123, rick.ruggles@owh.com