Earth Day, Everyday

Stopping to listen to the flowers: NYU Students Make Earth Day Matter

Walking down the streets of New York its hard to miss the colorful fanning displays of tulips growing from ever inch of dirt and grass this city has to offer. Popping up on sidewalks, between buildings and roads, dominating the "no-mans-land" islands in between multi lane Avenues, I cant help but wonder that the friendly flower heads spilling out over the sidewalks are maybe, just maybe, trying to tell us something: "Hello New York."
Now maybe it's because I was getting sick of wallowing in the never-ending winter doldrums or because I just finished Michael Pollan's Botany of Desire in which the history of the noble tulip is brought further into the sunlight. For whatever reason, I find myself in awe of New York City's tulip garden and evidently, I'm hearing them speak to me.
And its not just the tulips, I took a picture on my cell phone of the first tree I noticed sprouting the little white petals that drift lazily to the concrete ground and for a split second transport me to the poppy field in Wizard of Oz. Not because I've been drugged but because Dorothy and her gang's jaunt through the poppies was serenely beautiful and my happy place looks something like that field. I'm finding myself allowing 30 minutes to get to a classroom 10 minutes away so I can leisurely walk and enjoy the warmth of the sun.
As I'm embracing the fruits of nature all around the concrete jungle, I'm reminded of a shirt a friend of mine had when we were growing up that read, "Everyday is Earth Day." I remember how much I coveted that shirt because as a 15 year old I didn't feel it was enough to be a vegetarian and to recycle unless everyone else knew I was doing it. I have always questioned the absurdity of Earth Day, one day dedicated to the celebration of the planet? A celebratory reminder that yup, we inhabit a living breathing mass floating through space? And, gulp, it's our responsibility to keep it clean, pretty and dare I say livable for the next generation? Maybe it's crazy of me to say so but I am thankful everyday for the Earth and its beauty.
Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008, the day set aside on our calendars for Earth Day, came and went like a drifting ice cap lost in the arctic. No international music concerts sponsored by politicians and celebrities; leaders of the world did not come together to discuss global warming. No international day of solidarity where everyone agreed to forgo driving to work. However, localized activities reminded people that while they might not be able to sit down to freshly squeezed locally grown organic lemonade with George Bush or Al Gore to talk climate change, they can sit down with their neighbor, family and friends, and remind themselves and each other that this planet is worth saving.
At New York University’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study’s Community Learning Initiative, students in Kathy Engel's Political Journalism and Activism class decided they were not going to let Earth Day come and go without at least a nod in Mother Nature’s direction. In the spirit of NYU's "Going Green Initiative" the class decided to "Blackout NYU." By sending out mass email campaigns and going from door to classroom door, leaving flyers on recycled materials – no paper waste! Students in Engel's class asked colleagues and peers to turn their lights off for Earth Day. At times interrupting classes to politely ask teachers and students to do their small part in honor of our planet, the students, for the most part, were met with willing participants who simply had never thought to turn the lights off.
The students also set up a table in Washington Square Park and encouraged park visitors to draw footprints in chalk with a pledge to make a small step towards reducing their own individual carbon footprints. By 4 pm the surface of the park was covered in footprints chalked by students, children, parents, grandparents, professors, west village residents, and tourists, leaving messages like: eat local, turn off the lights, and walk more!
One might say, so some students at NYU turned off some lights and got people to play with chalk, what did that really do to save the planet? It's true, the students don't know how many professors actually participated or how many people actually went home and turned the water off when they were brushing their teeth. However, there was a vibe, something happened on Tuesday April 22nd in lower Manhattan.
On a beautiful April day New Yorkers stopped to remember that Earth is our home, New York, our neighborhood, and New Yorkers, our neighbors. We were reminded that while we might not be solving global warming with the flick of a light switch, we can still physically do something. We have the power to make individual choices that collectively can make a difference no matter how big or small. With a budget of nothing and the energy of a good idea, the NYU students reminded their peers that while we may live in a concrete monolith, this planet is our home and its time to show it some love and not just on Earth Day but everyday.
A community emerged at NYU last Tuesday. A community of people who wanted to enjoy the sunshine, who were willing to sit in a dark classroom, and above all, a community of people who wanted to talk and feel empowered. The strongest tool for large-scale change, be it for global warming or anything else, is the feeling of community, a gathering of like-minded individuals who believe that a better, cleaner, and brighter future is possible.
As I walked through Washington Square Park today and the remnants of the chalk footprints still faintly remain and the tulips flop lazily over the guardrails, I wonder what if we stopped to smell the flowers more often? If we bent over and placed an ear alongside the opened bud would they talk to us and what would they say? "Hello New York," I imagine they would begin, "what a lovely day to stop and celebrate the planet."

Erin Gordon
NYU Tisch School of the Arts
e.gordon13@gmail.com



So gang this is the piece I wrote in response to our Earth Day celebrations. Let me know what you think. Richard, Kathy suggested getting it to Danielle so it could be circulated through the schools. Let me know if that's possible :)