Earth Day
Today is Earth Day. I will date myself and tell you that I celebrated the first Earth Day in kindergarten with Miss Naugle, the female version of Mr. Rogers if ever there were one. We colored pictures of the Earth with green and blue crayons. She talked about happy fish swimming in clean water and happy birds flying in clean air. She read Dr. Seuss’s The Lorax, even today one of my favorites.As the child of an avid outdoorsman, I became keenly aware of what constituted a good body of water and ones in which we didn’t fish or swim. It took a lifetime to understand that those spots were near farms with an utter lack for environmental conservation or manufacturing facilities with effluent pipes—over the years both causing large fish kills on world renown limestone trout fishing streams.Acid rain etched the concrete on my parents’ outdoor patio and wreaked havoc on stone statues just over the mountain in Gettysburg.Girl Scouts laid the foundation for leaving a place better than when first encountered. That meant things like picking up trash, be it on a hiking trail or in a parking lot. Today I still walk up and down my road with a grabbing wand and a feed sack fetching glass and plastic bottles tossed from passing cars. Seriously, who does that? And don’t say pigs. Real pigs don’t act that way.I never thought of myself as an environmentalist, especially all those years I spent working in the petroleum industry. It was a great job where I worked in many interesting places with an unforgettable cast of characters on leading edge technologies. I drove a car. I heated my house. I wore Polar fleece and polyester and witnessed how regulated all job sites were by the federal government in regard to pollution. There was always the underlying current that I was doing more harm than good, though. I loved the work I did, but I didn’t feel good about it.My eyes were opened to the growing peril for Earth as my career segued into global manufacturers whose missions included environmental and social responsibility. I began to understand the stark differences between the textile factories in the small town where I grew up and brand manufacturers in China. I watched as companies sourced raw materials and labor based on moral principles—not profits alone.The Legos of life started fitting together and building interconnected parts functioning as a whole when I began to farm for a living. Earth Day’s founding principles became more that a fun party with a great t-shirt. I found myself going back to the idea of how my actions can make the world a better place. No where have I felt I have made a positive contribution than in the choices I make about my agricultural practices. Thirty years ago I felt like the odd (wo)man out with ideas of using no chemicals, raising non-commodity livestock, selling to local restaurants and directly to customers. Every year when Earth Day rolled around I hoped that someday this would all catch on.While the vibrant farmers markets and growing regenerative agriculture movement fills my soul with hope, at times I can’t help but feel a Sisyphean effort for clean water and air. It’s easy to see why many choose ignorance over effort. We all want our nonstick pans without having to contend with forever chemicals in our aquifers or to hop on an airplane and fly anywhere in the world.For Earth Day 2020 I feel like the planet has finally said in exasperation, ENOUGH! Humanity has plowed ahead with bumper-sticker platitudes for far too long while failing to genuinely pay attention to the impact our daily choices have on the Earth as a whole system. It took a snippet of RNA wrapped in fat to tell us we no longer have a choice in the matter.This Earth Day I want you to ask yourself what you can do to make the world a better place and then go do it. One year I replaced all of the incandescent light bulbs in my house with energy efficient LED bulbs that will probably outlast me. Over the years I’ve planted trees, pulled tires out of waterways and taught people how to make biodiesel. This year I’m mowing my lawn…with sheep and goats. This is one of my favorite acts of environmentalism. No particulate exhaust blasting out of tailpipe of an internal combustion engine. Instead, there is the peaceful sounds of animals munching on lush green grass while quietly banking recycled nutrients for the next growing season with deposits from their own tailpipes.We only have one Earth. Let’s choose to take better care of it.