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By John Darling For the Tidings April 26. 2015 11:44AM Local Take: Do you take part in Earth Day? Does it do any good? Arianna Pichardo, 9, center, a student at Napier Academy, decides where to toss the globe while playing a geography game with her classmates outside of the The Great Falls National Historical Park welcome center in Paterson, N.J., on April 22. The students participated in cleanup of a park on Earth Day. Amy Newman/The Record of Bergen County via AP Earth Day, a day to celebrate the life-sustaining gifts of Mother Earth and campaign against harmful environmental practices, got off to a booming start on April 22, 1970, under the leadership of visionary Wisconsin Sen. Gaylord Nelson. More than a million people flooded into closed-off 5th Avenue in New York City on that day, engraving it in the minds of Americans as a very special time when people sing, dance, paint children’s faces and talk up the latest advances in solar and wind energy, hybrid and electric cars and bikes and a range of systems that help people live simpler, cleaner lives and shrink their carbon footprint. Through the decades the environmental movement has tackled many issues, including lessening water and air pollution, but the consensus now is that carbon is the big problem. It's naturally mostly ensconced in soil and trees and in deposits of oil and gas far underground. However, since the Industrial Revolution a couple hundred years ago, humans have burned gas, oil, wood or whatever else they can get our hands on at a furious rate for heat and energy. This not good for Mother Earth. She responds by trapping excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, creating a greenhouse effect that is much like leaving your dog in the car with windows rolled up on a sunny summer day. Humans are the dog. The carbon has been released and can’t be un-released, so climate change has already been set in motion, with horrendous effects predicted. Its impacts can be lessened, however. The debate continues to rage about whether that will do much good in the long run. At the Earth Day celebration at ScienceWorks on Saturday, we asked Ashlander’s if they think 45 years of Earth Day has done much good. We also asked them how they celebrate Earth Day. Tia Behrens — It makes people realize what Earth is about, as a national holiday. Most of our country ignores it, I suppose, but we live in a really progressive town and we do not ignore it at all. Quite the opposite. I come down here to Earth Day and I try not to drive to get here. I garden if the weather is good. It’s a great excuse to get outside. Candace Younghans — Yes, it does lots of good. It’s hit the mainstream. It couldn’t have happened without a big grassroots effort and making it relate to people on the ground in practical ways. I celebrate it usually by reminding myself and others that every day is really Earth Day. I improve my daily practices for Mother Earth. I’m now learning about the Zero Waste project for World Peace and Prayer Day (which will be held here June 18-21). Mike Poole (dressed in plastic bags as a Master Recycler, reminding people to stay away from non-recyclables) — Earth Day is now part of the soul of America. It has gone through multiple generations and is an accepted part of what makes us Americans. This is now at least the third generation of people experiencing this event. Jennifer Wabin — I think so. Earth Day has helped bring a lot of awareness and remind people to be more responsible. I didn’t know it has been going on that long. It brings forward many new and different ideas, like about electric cars and bikes. I come to events like this on Earth Day. It reminds me to re-use, reduce and recycle. I’m absolutely worried about climate change. All over the country and the northwest, the weather has been unusual. The drought is a sign of what’s to come. I’m worried that coral reefs and polar bears will all be gone and my children will never see them. John Darling is an Ashland freelance writer. Reach him at [email protected]. What do you think? Have an opinion on this issue? Send a letter to the editor at www.dailytidings.com/sendletter. http://www.dailytidings.com/article/20150426/news/150429835 © 2016 Copyright © 1995-2011 Crain Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. Terms of Use Privacy Statement -->