[GreenYes] Earth Day 2001

[RicAnthony@aol.com]

Earth Day 2001
Richard V. Anthony
April 22, 2001

This year, Earth Day was glorious.  It rained Saturday in the morning the day 
before the big event. It was a hard rain and it washed the City down.  The 
sun came out in the afternoon and dried everything off. Sunday, Earth Day was 
San Diego at its best, clear blue skies with periodic white fluffy clouds 
drifting by, 72 degrees with a cool marine breeze off the ocean.  Balboa 
Park, a magnificent urban park in San Diego, sparkled.

This year, and every year since Earth Day 1990, Earthworks organizes the 
Earth Fair, which has been from the start, a massive event in the Park.  This 
years’ crowd was over 60,000.  It is the largest event held in the park, 
ever.  There were more than 200 exhibitors, a totally vegetarian food area, 
400 volunteers and 10 areas of specialties.  Many of the County's’ radio 
stations set up stages with live bands and broadcasted from the park, letting 
people all over the County know what was happening. The people came.  Chris 
Klein and Carolyn Chase, perpetual organizers of the Earth Fair, deserve 
special recognition, they have figured out how to put on a large community 
event in a peaceful and environmentally friendly manner.

The California Resource Recovery Association, San Diego Chapter was asked to 
organize the Discard Management.  With the help of the City of San Diego 
Environmental Services, their Recycling Processor IMS, the Urban Corps of San 
Diego, and using the new tradition of blue bins for paper and containers and 
black bins for other discards, we were able to recover over 3,000 pounds of 
paper and containers, capturing over 80% of what was generated.  Another 
6,000 pounds of primarily food and food related paper went to landfill. Next 
year when the food waste composting facility is permitted, we will get most 
of that food and food dirty paper in a green bin.


Using ”Recycle Here” banners and signs on the bins, the separation was 
better than 90 per cent containment free.  The usual suspects plastic cups 
and Styrofoam containers with chasing arrows and numbers were chief among the 
contaminants.  The Fair was over by 5;00 PM and by 7:00 PM, the Park was as 
clean as when we got there in the morning.

I have been involved in nearly every earth day since 1970 and a lot of April 
recycling programs.  On this day in 2001, it seemed to me that we have a 
strong and united consensus from the counter culture, mainstream liberals and 
a few compassionate conservatives.  Strong enough to make Coca Cola use 
recycled materials in their containers and ready to take on Mobile Exxon for 
corporate responsibility. 

Richard Anthony Associates
ricanthony@aol.com
3891 Kendall Street
San Diego CA 92109
858 272 2905 (P)
858 272 3709 (F)
WWW.RICHARDANTHONYASSOCIATES.COM