When did Earth Day stop being about the Earth?

At 6am on a Saturday, it started with a single tear falling from the corner of my eye. “I am the Lorax and I speak for the trees!” I thought.

On our birthdays, we celebrate our birth. We celebrate ourselves. Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Veteran’s Day we celebrate mothers, fathers and veterans, right?  So, when did we stop celebrating and giving back to the Earth on Earth Day?

Some people refer to me as a tree-hugger.  I used to deny it. I was above all of that. After thinking about it, now I wear my Tree-hugger badge proudly. You would never know it by looking at me. I don’t wear the traditional tree-hugger garb. I am cleverly disguised as a yuppie designer chick.  As a young adult, (didn’t think I was young at the time) I lived in Fort Collins, Colorado. I got my degree from Colorado State University, go Rams! Formerly known as the Aggies, CSU is an agricultural school at heart. In college, in Fort Collins, Earth Day seemed to be all about the Earth. Appropriate. And why not be a tree-hugger? Everyone (and everything) needs a hug now and then…don’t you think?

I am a landscape designer by trade and I have been working on a large design that is slated to be installed this summer.  It is an 8 acre Bird Sanctuary in Parker. How wonderful to have the ground-breaking on Earth Day! You would think that getting volunteers on Earth Day to plant trees would be a no-brainer. I guess despite my age, I can be naïve sometimes, still. I have been turned down more than once.  It’s my own fault really. I must not be stressing the fact that, at least in my mind and heart, this isn’t for the neighborhood or the outlying community. As the saying goes, it’s for the birds! It’s for the birds, the butterflies, the bees, the deer, the bats, rabbits and foxes. It’s to put oxygen into the air, it’s habitat, it’s food, it’s shelter, it’s what I consider as truly giving back. It’s about giving back to the Earth, to the true natives of the area, the animals.

Why is it always the animals and environment that gets left out? In times of great catastrophic tragedy, such as Katrina and the earthquake in Haiti, the toll is huge. We collectively stood silent for a moment, in shock of what had just happened. In both of those cases, as many others, the human plight was enormous. And as the shock wore off, we raced to help our fellow man. But, what about the animals? I think it was at least a month after Katrina, if not longer, before I heard anything about the pets and the zoo animals. And what about Haiti? Is it arrogantly American of me to just assume they had pets or other domesticated animals? If it is, I apologize. I have heard nothing of the animals. Domesticated animals rely on humans for food and shelter. They are the ones who know before we do when a natural disaster is about to strike. Their people have been devastated and are unable to help themselves, let alone the animals. It is absolutely imperative, we all agree, that we need to help our fellow man but shouldn’t we also help their animals?

I know, on the surface, I appear to some to be uncaring about people. That’s not the case. My caring and concern goes far deeper and extend to every living thing. That includes the living, breathing planet that we call home. I know that I am not alone in my thinking. Sometimes it just feels that way.

Tree-huggers unite! We are the Lorax and we speak for the trees (and animals)!!