Tag Archives: earth day

Letters to George Bush (the elder)

Memories, Politics, teaching, Things, Writing, , ,

In the spring of 1991, probably because it was close to Earth Day or maybe I’d just taught a unit on environmental studies, I had my students write letters to President George Bush requesting he be more concerned about the Earth. It’s actually odd I did this at that time because he’d just announced Proclamation 6274 (Earth Day).

We received a reply, but I may have thrown it away. It was pretty exciting though.

Here are the letters:

Dear Mr. President,

We are Michael and Callie and we are interested in saving the Earth. We would like you to try to stop people from littering. And to make a law to stop people from littering.

Sincerely,
Michael and Callie

Dear Mr. President,

I understand that you have a lot of work to do but anyway I know that you want to be known as the Environmental President and I want to help. The first way is you could try to provide a safe place for animals. The second way is you could set a new law. It could be that you could arrest people who litter. You could also try to stop pollution by banning hairspray and just use mousse. You could also try to ban cigarettes and try to stop anymore oil going into rivers, streams, oceans, and seas. I would be pleased if you wrote back. If you write back can you send some of your ways to help the Earth? Tell Mrs. Bush I said hello.

Sincerely,
Jessica

Dear Mr. President,

I think you should help clean up the environment and air. I think you should shut down the smoke factories for ever and ever. That would be nice to breathe clean air. I get sick when the air has too much smoke in it. I think it is wrong to pollute the air because it destroys animals and plants. When I see dead animals I feel sad

Sincerely,
Dallas

Dear Mr. Presidident,

Can you help stop pollution a little and litter too? Can you help clean the air? Can you help clean the water?

Sincerely,
Daniel

Dear Mr. President,

How is congress? Can you make a law about pollution because the cars make the pollution? Can you make people pick up trash?

Sincerely,
Ian and Mark

Dear President Bush,

How are you? I’m fine. How’s congress? Any new decorations for the oval office? Didn’t think so. Well, I wrote to say you’re a great president. BUT can you help us around here? The environment is getting really polluted and littered and the animals are disappearing. Please help. Pass a law or something. Build animal shelters. But please do something when and if you have the time, and if you come here in person please sit by me and we can talk. We have lunch at 12:05. If you come on Friday they have pizza. This school (unlike others) has great pizza. We sit at the last table with another class. Anyway, write back soon.

Sincerely,
Edward

Dear Mr. President Bush,

I would like you to help the nation get most of the pollution out of it. I would like you to make a home that is safe for animals and make a law to show that the world is in danger.

Yours sincerely,
Sarah

Dear Mr. President,

I wish you would stop the littering. You would not like what you see. Please do a good job. Please do me a favor and make a new law. If someone litters they have to pay a fine.

Sincerly,
Eric

Earth Day then and now

Events, Memories

I remember the buzz about the first Earth Day. I was 13 years old and probably saw posters about the event in my school. I’m sure my best friend, Cynthia, had some involvement in it. Her parents were the most likely candidates to be environmentalists of anyone else I knew. I don’t remember what actually I did for Earth Day 1970, but I must have done something enjoyable because I remember wondering, years later, whatever happened to Earth Day?

First View of Earth from Moon (photo courtesy NASA)

The summer before the first Earth Day the world had seen the first image of our planet from the surface of the moon. Perhaps seeing that image made the inhabitants of Planet Earth see our planet as a more fragile place than we’d done before. I don’t remember being environmentally aware until the spring of 1970, but after that I became more conscious about protecting the Earth.

At first I think the emphasis was on littering. There were campaigns to not litter. I took it to heart and made sure I didn’t contribute to litter of any kind. After that I remember being aware of industrial pollution. In high school my friend Cindy Mahaffy and I made plans to protest toxic emissions outside a local factory with signs stating, “Don’t pour filth into the air, Air is the best thing that we can breathe.” (a line from Donovan’s song, “Spaceship Earth”).

Continue reading Earth Day then and now →