Counting Down to Earth Day 2013: 4.11.13

Yesterday’s tip was: Repurpose something old instead of buying something new.

Do you know what the objects are?

The answer ?: A Pair of Repurposed Shower Heads

We replaced these shower heads, durable objects of chrome and brass, not because they failed to work, but because they WASTED WATER. They likely date from 1929, when bathrooms were first installed in our post-Civil War row house. We soon discovered that they used so much water that two simultaneous showers would totally drain the 30 gallon oil-fired hot water heater! 

My husband recognized their potential as candlesticks. We shined them up with a little Bon Ami, turned them on end, tightened them up where they swivel, and added an elegant pair of deep red beeswax candles for the upcoming winter holidays. 

More importantly, we replaced them with low-flow shower heads. 

Today’s Tip: USE LESS WATER

According to water.org., 780 million people lack access to clean water — more than-2 1/2 times the population of the United States. Water.org also reports that 3.4 million people die each year from a water related disease.

What can you do in your own home to preserve this precious resource?

• First, the EPA suggests that you shower rather than bathe, and that you limit your shower to 5 minutes. The EPA states that a full bathtub requires 70 gallons of water, but a five-minute shower uses 10 to 25 gallons (depending on the shower head).
• Second, install a water efficient shower head. Search for low flow shower head, and you will get an astounding nearly 12,000 results, including a simple device in the $4 price range. You can find a number of options in any home improvement store. Energy.gov has an excellent resource page for guiding you in your selection. 

For more tips on Using Water Efficiently, check out this page from the EPA and this one from Energy.gov. Most of these ideas are very easy to implement.

If you are interested in finding out more about the work of water.org, click here. This organization has a high ranking on Charity Navigator. Another group  working to bring clean, safe drinking water to developing countries is charitywater.org, which also has an excellent Charity Navigator Rating. 

Come back tomorrow for a new tip as we count down to Earth Day on April 22.

Love Your Mother (Earth). Pass it on. Together we can make a difference. Yes, we can!

The Very First Earth Day

Nearly 40 years ago, on April 22, 1970, Americans observed the first Earth Day, an event envisioned by Senator Gaylord Nelson (D-Wisconsin). (Its logo, pictured at right,  appeared on a flag with green and white stripes.) Inspired by the political activism on college campuses in response to the Vietnam War, Nelson had proposed a national teach-in on the environment  to send a message to Washington that public opinion was solidly behind a bold political agenda on environmental problems.

Nelson insisted the first Earth Day's activities be created not by organizers in Washington, but by individuals and groups in their own communities. He later reflected, “Earth Day planned itself.”  On April 22, 1970, some 20,000,000  Americans participated in Earth Day events across the nation. In New York City, Mayor Lindsay closed Fifth Avenue for a demonstration attended by thousands. I attended a “teach-in” at Belmont High, its message so strong that I remember convincing my AP American History teacher that it was much more important to do a detailed project on air pollution than to take the AP exam. I recently re-discovered that handwritten paper, complete with copious footnotes and correspondence with Boston’s Mayor Kevin White, and now find myself picking up a thread that I began some four decades ago.

Let me put the first Earth Day in context.

In 1969, Cleveland’s Cuyahoga River had caught on fire. Yes, a river had actually burned — for two hours! DDT was legal (not banned until 1972). In 1963, there were less than 500 pairs of American Bald Eagles in the entire lower 48 states. There was no EPA. Gasoline and paint contained lead. Students played with mercury in science class. Most importantly, there were no laws regulating the particulates and chemicals dumped into the environment. Factories, trash incinerators, and power plants spewed their filth, unregulated, into the air and waterways.

With the first Earth Day, the country seemed to wake up. According to information on the EPA website, “Born in the wake of elevated concern about environmental pollution, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency opened its doors in downtown Washington, DC, on December 2, 1970. EPA was established to consolidate in one agency a variety of federal research, monitoring, standard-setting and enforcement activities to ensure environmental protection. EPA's mission is to protect human health and to safeguard the natural environment—air, water, and land—upon which life depends.”

In the decade following the first Earth Day, 28 pieces of environmental legislation were passed, including: the Clean Air Act, the Water Quality Improvement Act, the Water Pollution and Control Act Amendments, the Resource Recovery Act, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, the Toxic Substances Control Act, the Occupational Safety and Health Act, the Federal Environmental Pesticide Control Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, and the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act.

America’s eyes were finally open and the country pulled together to begin the work of undoing the damage caused by years of “choices neglected…in our efforts to achieve the most spectacular ‘progress’ the world has ever known.” (Pamphlet printed by the US Department of Health, Education, and Welfare 5/1/70)

Think of it, 28 pieces of legislation, driven by a movement inspired by Democrats under a Republican president, were enacted in just one decade — all of which imposed a tremendous cost on doing business. Hard to imagine that today!