More houses, more cars, more traffic and more trash. As more
people come to southern Santa Clara County, these issues become
more pressing, and dealing with them can seem like an
insurmountable task. Possible solutions are varied, but getting
people, especially young people, to tackle the problems, is the
focus of Earth Day, April 22. SouthValley cities are trying to
spread the word.
More houses, more cars, more traffic and more trash.
As more people come to southern Santa Clara County, these issues become more pressing, and dealing with them can seem like an insurmountable task. Possible solutions are varied, but getting people, especially young people, to tackle the problems, is the focus of Earth Day, April 22. SouthValley cities are trying to spread the word.
Morgan Hill, a town with a serious commitment to the environment, is planning events around Earth Day to draw attention to recycling.
The city is holding an art and science fair, where children from local schools can display their work, which is supposed to tie into beverage container recycling. The students can win $250 for their work.
Winning art work is included in the city’s annual calendar, which has a recycling theme.
Katherine Filice, the project coordinator for the fair, said the money to produce the event came from the state department of conservation. Each year, Morgan Hill applies for, and receives a grant for about $10,000 from the state to educate people abou beverage container recycling. She said all cities are eligible for the money, which Morgan Hill uses to fund Earth Day projects.
Each year, Morgan Hill holds its Recycle Days event, as close to possible to Earth Day.
The city of Gilroy, along with the Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society, is planning to hold an outdoor fair in Christmas Hill Park, with vendors and activities to get people involved in protecting the environment.
“We hope to get people outdoors,” said Jennifer Peritz, programs coordinator, with Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society. “The idea is that in order for someone to care about the earth and the environment, they first have to get out and experience it.”
Lisa Jensema, the environmental program coordinator for Gilroy, said that the city has had an Earth Day event for at least the last 12 years.
“We’re trying to raise the environmental awareness of our community to help them better understand how important it is to conserve our natural resources and to expose them to our local agencies,” she said.
Schools around South Valley are holding various events to teach students about the earth. Solorsano Middle School Principal Sal Tomasello said there will be a clean-up day at the new school on April 24. Parents, students and other volunteers will be pulling weeds, replacing dead shrubs and planting flowers.
At Brownell Academy, the science and language arts departments are teaming up for the third year to sell t-shirts. Money from sale of shirts goes to the Nature Conservancy, and the past two years, the money the school has raised has purchased 6.1 acres of the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve in Mexico.
Some teachers at other schools have also planned Earth Day activities for their students during the school day.
Earth Day began in 1970, the brainchild of then-U.S. Senator from Wisconsin Gaylord Nelson and Denis Hayes, a graduate student at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. People around the world now participate.
