This Saturday, April 22, marks the 53rd annual Earth Day. Inspired in part by the catastrophic 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill, Earth Day was born out of the environmental activism movement of the 1960s, but has grown into a global event — complete with cleanup and education opportunities, celebrations and, however ironically, corporate sponsors.
Earth Day is a great reminder of the kinds of individual actions we can take to stay green, and you can look back at the Scene’s past Green Issues for extensive directories of eco-friendly organizations, services, businesses and restaurants. The Nashville area offers urban farms like Brooklyn Heights Community Garden; initiatives like the Cumberland River Compact and The Food Initiative; reuse services and refill centers like The Good Fill and Turnip Green Creative Reuse; nonprofits like Urban Green Lab and TennGreen Land Conservancy; eco-friendly recycling services like RecycleNash and Tri-Star Recycling; and advocacy groups like Walk Bike Nashville.
Centennial Park Conservancy will host a Nashville Earth Day celebration on Saturday at the Centennial Park Bandshell, a free event featuring exhibitors and vendors — “75 recycled, reused, up-cycled, organic, and all-natural products and offerings.” There will also be sets from performers including Lera Lynn, Kyshona and more, not to mention a yoga class from Small World Yoga, food trucks and kids’ events.
But as we explore in this issue, responsibility for the existential threat posed by global warming and associated environmental events lies primarily at the feet of corporations — which, by a wide margin, out-pollute individuals. Also in this issue, we’ve got stories on Nashvillians coexisting with urban wildlife, waterway woes in Dickson County, Nashville’s water quality and nature-based education organization Unearthing Joy. Read on, and happy Earth Day. —D. PATRICK RODGERS, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
A word on disinfectant byproducts and an update on lead pipes
As one local expert notes, small-scale actions won’t offset the massive harm being done by corporate polluters
‘The best thing you can do for these animals is just leave them alone’
Wary of discharge in waterways, environmentalists are raising pollution concerns and trying to block a new sewage facility
When it comes to getting diverse groups outdoors, Unearthing Joy meets folks in their own communities
