{"id":783,"date":"2023-04-28T08:51:00","date_gmt":"2023-04-28T12:51:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/forsyth\/?p=783"},"modified":"2025-12-01T10:41:19","modified_gmt":"2025-12-01T15:41:19","slug":"earth-day-success-stories","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/forsyth\/earth-day-success-stories\/","title":{"rendered":"Earth Day success stories"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Last Saturday, April 22, 2023, the Post Road Library hosted the annual Forsyth County Master Naturalist Extension Volunteers\u2019 Earth Day Celebration from noon to 3 p.m. Despite the windy weather, over 200 people visited the interactive displays to learn about the wonders of our water system and facts about biting insects, spin the wheel to test their knowledge about Georgia bats, talk with trained Forsyth County Master Naturalists, or attend a wildlife lecture. The rock painting craft was a big hit with kids, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Master Naturalist Extension Volunteers Carol Gericke (center) and Zuly Rueda (behind table, right) prepare materials for another round of rock painting at the children\u2019s craft activity table.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Earth Day has been observed each year on April 22 since 1970. It began as a way to focus national attention on decades of industrial pollution, forest clearing, toxins and pesticides, and several man-made disasters that created environmental crises. Interest in addressing these issues quickly spread from college campuses to the general population. The grassroots movement played a role in the creation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and a series of laws aimed at protecting air and water quality, endangered species, and workers. Over 50 years later, there are numerous success stories, including polluted rivers that were restored under regulations of the Clean Water Act (a 1972 expansion of the 1948 Federal Water Pollution Control Act) and dozens of hazardous waste sites cleaned and rehabilitated through the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Volunteer Gina Vernola talks with Earth Day Celebration visitors about frogs and toads in Forsyth County. Photo by E. Dupree.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Individual action is also important. People have many opportunities to impact our shared environment, both positively and negatively, every day. Responsible pesticide use in our landscapes protects pollinators, birds, and streams. Proper disposal of paint, used motor oil, and household chemicals is important, too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Master Naturalist Extension Volunteers Laurie and Larry Alvord help Earth Day visitors increase their knowledge about Georgia bats. Photo by H.N. Kolich<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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We can also strive to reduce the amount of trash and food waste we send to landfills and refrain from littering. The day after Earth Day, my daughter and I joined a trail clean-up event at a state park. It was a great day to be outdoors, and we were well equipped to pick up trash along the trail. Along the trail we saw many native plants, including a pink lady\u2019s slipper (Cypripedium acaule <\/em>Ait.), mountain laurels (Kalmia latifolia<\/em>)just beginning to bloom, and trilliums (Trillium<\/em> catesbaei <\/em>and T. rugelii<\/em>) with delicate pink and white flowers nodding below the three leaves that give them their name. Even better than seeing beautiful flowers and great views was what we didn\u2019t see: trash. I call that a success story, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
A member of the orchid family, pink lady slippers form a partnership with a specific soil fungus that is essential to the plant\u2019s survival. Photo by H.N. Kolich <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"A
Native shrubs like mountain laurel provide important links in healthy ecosystems. The insect visitor is a juvenile katydid, a food source for birds. Photo by H.N. Kolich<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last Saturday, April 22, 2023, the Post Road Library hosted the annual Forsyth County Master Naturalist Extension Volunteers\u2019 Earth Day Celebration from noon to 3 p.m. Despite the windy weather, over 200 people visited the interactive displays to learn about the wonders of our water system and facts about biting insects, spin the wheel to test their knowledge about Georgia bats, talk with trained Forsyth County Master Naturalists, or attend a wildlife lecture. The rock painting craft was a big hit with kids, too.<\/p>\n

Earth Day has been observed each year on April 22 since 1970. It began as a way to focus national attention on decades of industrial pollution, forest clearing, toxins and pesticides, and several man-made disasters that created environmental crises. Interest in addressing these issues quickly spread from college campuses to the general population. The grassroots movement played a role in the creation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and a series of laws aimed at protecting air and water quality, endangered species, and workers. Over 50 years later, there are numerous success stories, including polluted rivers that were restored under regulations of the Clean Water Act (a 1972 expansion of the 1948 Federal Water Pollution Control Act) and dozens of hazardous waste sites cleaned and rehabilitated through the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":452,"featured_media":785,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[236],"class_list":["post-783","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-anr","tag-earth-day"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/forsyth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/783","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/forsyth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/forsyth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/forsyth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/452"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/forsyth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=783"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/forsyth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/783\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2317,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/forsyth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/783\/revisions\/2317"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/forsyth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/785"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/forsyth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=783"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/forsyth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=783"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/forsyth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=783"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}