Happy Earth Day!
If you are a certain age you are well aware that Smokey the
Bear wanted you to help prevent forest fires and Snuff McGruff wanted you to
help him “take a bite outta crime.” These were just little cartoon commercials,
but they still planted that idea of what you should do to help out.
Growing up there was no better program on television that
instilled the idea of taking the time and effort to improve the ecosystem,
while still being an action packed show that you and your friends played on the
playground, than Captain Planet!
Every episode had a lesson about the necessity of not
polluting the earth. When the evil polluting villains became too much for the
Planeteers to handle they called on Captain Planet to help save the day.
Looking back this Superman with a green mullet that enforced
ecofriendly behavior was a crazy idea for a kid show. Can you imagine hearing
that story pitch? There would be a good amount of laughter if I heard it before
saying, “wait are you serious?”
It has been many years since I have watched the show Captain
Planet, but every Earth Day I think back on the time I spent watching that
show, or arguing over who would be Captain Planet and who would be a Planeteer
on the playground.
Whether you remember the cartoon or not, take time this Earth Day
to be a Planeteer again. Teach the children you love those ecological lessons
you learned. Show them the importance of planting a tree, recycling, picking up
trash, not leaving the water running and changing out old light bulbs for more
energy efficient ones.
If you live in Missouri take time this Friday April 25 to come to Jefferson City and celebrate Earth Day! The celebration will be from
10 AM to 2 PM on the State Capitol south lawn. It will be a day of fun and
education with exhibits, presentations and crafts!
While you are there, you will learn about the Adopt-A-Highway
program, which is in its 27th year, and how to volunteer to help
make Missouri roads cleaner, more attractive and better for the environment.
You will also hear about the annual No MOre Trash! Bash. The
Trash Bash encourages folks to avoid littering in the first place and picking up others' trash to help the environment and the wildlife such as birds, fish, turtles and others that can become entangled or otherwise harmed by it.
 |
| Peanut the Turtle |
One such case is
the story of Peanut the Turtle. When a young turtle crawled into a six-pack
ring that stayed around her as she grew, the trash deformed her shell into the
shape of a peanut. Peanut survived, the ring was removed and she has lived with
the Missouri Department of Conservation as their environmental spokesturtle since 1993.
Take time this
Earth Day to be a Planeteer again. Educate the young ones in your life on the
importance of making the world a better and cleaner place to live and help
make stories like Peanut the Turtle's a thing of the past.
Remember, “the
power is yours!”
Find out more
information on how you can help the environment at:
Adopt-A-Highway -
http://www.modot.org/services/community/adoptahighway.htm
No MOre Trash!
Bash - http://nomoretrash.org/
Jefferson City
Earth Day - https://www.dnr.mo.gov/earthday/
No comments:
Post a Comment