The Upper Cumberland Earth Day Coalition will be celebrating Earth Day from 1 to 5 p.m. April 22 at the Dogwood Park Performance Pavilion in Cookeville. There will be speakers, music, children’s activities, and environmentally related exhibit tables. In the event of heavy rain, the event will be cancelled. The event is free, family friendly, and open to the public.
The Keynote speaker for this year’s event is Dr. Gloria Belken, with the Climate Reality Project. The Climate Reality Project is a diverse group of passionate individuals, including 2006 Nobel Laureate and former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, who have come together to solve the greatest challenge of our time, stopping climate change.
Other speakers include Lisa Luck, Program Manager of Education for the Putnam County Solid Waste Department, Dr. Troy Smith, Tennessee Technological University Environmental Historian, and Dr. Charles Womack, Cookeville City Councilman. Cookeville poet, Jesse Filoteo, will read his award winning original environmental poem “Do it for Mom.” Winners from the Upper Cumberland Earth Day Celebration Poetry Contest will also be reading their original poems.
Music for the event will be provided by Selena Foutch, Carissia and Tom Malone, with Carissia and Company, and a jazz trio, The Three Little Bops. Fourteen children’s activities sponsored by Cookeville Higher Education Students, the Cookeville Children’s Museum, Thrivent Financial, Indivisible TN6, PCDP, United Church of Cookeville, and Upper Cumberland Child Care Resources and Referrals, include making Bird Feeders, Planting Seeds, making Rainwater Bottle Chains, and Face Painting will be provided.
The first Earth Day was held on April 22, 1970 and was a bipartisan event which culminated in the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of the Clean Air, Clean Water and Endangered Species Acts later that year. Twenty million Americans participated in the first Earth Day. Earth Day is now celebrated around the world.
The theme for this year’s Earth Day is “End Plastic Pollution.” The invention of plastic in 1907 was a breakthrough for modern living.
However, due to the non-biodegradable nature of plastics, it has also created a tremendous environmental challenge. Almost 7 billion tons of plastic waste has been produced. 9% has been recycled. 12 % has been incinerated. 79% has accumulated in landfills and natural environments. Huge “islands” of plastics are floating in our oceans. The goal of this year’s event is to educate the public on the hazards of plastic pollution and how everyone can help in Reducing, Refusing, Reusing, Recycling and Removing plastic pollutants from the environment.
