So, Earth Day has once again come and gone. Before the big day, everyone from Oprah to Arnold was touting about going GREEN. There were green issues of popular magazines like Domino and Vanity Fair. As the day approached, my husband and I began to get excited. "Maybe people are finally waking up and getting it," I said. "The small efforts really do make a difference." Earth Day came and went, but after the rhetoric, it seems as though we are back to business as usual. The green splash has reduced to ripples on the community surface. I feel compelled to critique the lack of follow-through from these "leaders" of the community.
The lackadaisical attitude isn't just in Hollywood; Tampa has more that its fair share. I do have to say that I give Kudos to Mayor Pam Iorio, who has traded in her luxury sedan for a more eco friendly Honda hybrid, but is it enough?
We attended the Earth Day celebration at Lowry Park and I was impressed with a few booths, but the city's showing was very--rehearsed. I was looking for literature on recycling and information on what steps the city of Tampa was taking towards becoming more eco-friendly. Where is the solar power info? Why can't we recycle cardboard in the city? Where can I learn to make a rain barrel and is there an incentive for these home improvements? I had questions that I needed answers to. When I saw the solid waste recycling tent and other city recycling booths I bagan searching the tables for literature that would quench my thirst for information. Unfortunately, I left the booths more frustrated and thirsty than I came. Sure I had a nifty mouse pad made of tires, but no one there could tell me which plastics we recycle here and which we can't. The only hard information the tables had were how children could make paper hats from paper, and that was in the leaflet from 2003. I began seeing that all of the literature was from around 2003--have we not changed anything or even felt that change is important? We are not the only people who want to make Tampa a Green city and a leader in the state, so why does it feel like all of the momentum is just slipping away?
Tell me what you think.
