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RSSEarth Day is reminder of planetary obligations
DECATUR - With environmental issues gaining perhaps the most attention from the public and the media as they have in decades, some people hope hype can translate into people living more environmentally friendly lives as the 37th annual Earth Day is celebrated today.
Joan Meeder, who supervises the RSVP-Dove Recycling Center, 130 W. Cerro Gordo St., said she thinks attitudes are changing when it comes to recycling and other environmental matters.
"More people are talking about it these days," Meeder said. "More people are just understanding how important it is."
While global warming concerns have been spotlighted recently by studies from the United Nations and prominent public figures such as former Vice President Al Gore, whose documentary "An Inconvenient Truth" won an Oscar this year, simple things such as school recycling programs are getting people involved, Meeder said.
"There's more education generally, starting in the schools with our children, and it's carrying forth as they become adults," she said.
A "Party for the Planet" Earth Day event at Scovill Zoo from 1 to 4 p.m. today also aims to reach children about the environment.
The zoo is participating in an effort this year by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums to host Earth Day events across the country to help the public better understand and appreciate national and local conservation efforts, said Sarah Reining, the zoo's education and volunteer coordinator.
"Earth Day's been around for a long time, and it's just a reminder that we're the Earth's stewards," Reining said. "The Earth doesn't have anybody else. We're occupants, and it's our duty to take good care of her."
She said activities at the zoo will include a supermarket sweep to show how consumers can make environmentally friendly purchases and an arts and crafts project to create "Toad Abodes" for family gardens.
"The zookeepers especially are going to be teaching kids about amphibians," Reining said. "Frogs and toads are so fragile. They tend to tell us when something is wrong with our planet."
She said amphibians are among the animals most affected by climate change, signaling a problem.
While Reining hopes the activities and projects are fun for families, she said the event's main goal is to bring the idea of conservation to a person's backyard. Admission is free for children younger than 2, $2.75 for children 2 to 12 and $4.25 for teens and adults.
Sherri Ludlam, who heads the Macon County Solid Waste Management Department, said the county offers "a network of various recycling options" for people interested in doing some household conserving.
Seven county municipalities, including the city of Decatur, have curbside recycling programs, and six rural townships and villages offer drop-off recycling at various times during the month.
Meeder said the RSVP-Dove Recycling Center pays about 50 cents per pound for crushed and uncrushed aluminum cans between 9 a.m. and noon every day but Sunday.
While the center is closed today, the facility has scheduled a special Earth Day recycling day for Saturday, with extended hours from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and recyclers will get an extra 5 cents per pound for aluminum cans.
In addition to traditional aluminum, paper and plastic recycling, other materials some local groups and businesses accept for recycling include antifreeze, batteries, cardboard, motor oil, packing peanuts and cell phones. For more information, contact the solid waste management department at 425-4505.
Meeder said she hopes people consider taking steps to be more environmentally friendly today because it's beneficial "not only to the environment, but to the beautification to our neighborhoods."
Ludlam sees benefits to conservation beyond quality of life.
"It does have an effect on economic development," she said. "If we look clean and bright, we will be able to attract more investment."
Mary Tallon can be reached at mtallon@herald-review.com or 421-7984.
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