Earth Day was established in 1970 - long before I was even born during a time where Hippies were all around. Read this if you want to know more about the Earth Day History.
I always loved nature despite living in a city when I grew up. Our kitchen looked out to large trees and there was green all around us. I remember sitting on the kitchen bench eating toast with honey and admiring those large trees. There was a botanical garden close by and in summer we went there to enjoy the water features and flowers and in winter we took our sledge and went sleighing. When I grew a bit older we moved into a more rural area and we had a house with a garden. In the garden we had a pear- and a plumtree and bordering our property was a large strawberry field. I remember eating fresh juicy plums straight from the tree - the tree which held my swing. I remember eating strawberries straight from the field and I remember all these walks we did as a family - walking through the forest, looking for mushrooms, collecting blackberries and eating wild strawberries if we were lucky enough to find some.
Have you ever eaten wild strawberries? Their fruit are very small, they're juicy and very sweet. I will never forget the taste of them. To this day, eating blackberries reminds me of walking around in the forest, the smell of moss and cold moist air. (Don't forget I grew up in Germany.) I had books to learn about the animals and tapes to learn to differentiate between different bird songs. I wanted to be outside all the time. I collected grasses and called them 'herbs'. We didn't have any pets back then, so I dug a hole in the yard and collected snails which were my pets.
This was my favourite time as a child, my favourite time to look back to. I lived with the seasons. In summer I adored the bulbs rising out of the dead and bald looking soil. 'Schneegloeckchen' (Snowdrops) were the first flowers emerging out of partially melted snow. I was always so exited when I saw them.
Over the months more and more beautiful looking flowers - all bulbs - would emerge and I was always a bit jealous that my sister's birthday was in April - in spring - and she was being celebrated with all these beautiful flowers and scents around her. Summer was full of sun and I remember going to lakes and play in the sand. The scent of sunscreen was all around and the evenings were long as it doesn't get dark until very late. I also remember the time around my birthday - August - being harvest season. I remember our neighbour sending us kids out to collect chamomile to make tea. In autumn, I loved playing with all of the falling leaves. I collected chestnuts and made little animals out of it, I used leaves to draw and make collages, I loved autumn and the change in colour. And the first snowflakes were always exciting. The time of the year where it sometimes doesn't get bright at all. The smell of cinnamon and oranges in the air and the oven going to make biscuits. I loved this part of my life. It was the best part of my childhood.
My love for nature made me decide on a career everybody laughed at. Environmental awareness existed in the late 80s and early 90s but it was normally associated with people not shaving and not cutting their hair, wearing funny clothes and smelling bad. I read books on making your own cleaning products and saving paper. Hoimar v. Ditfurth's book about nuclear war, destroying of the environment and population overgrowth and the inability of humans to react in order to save mankind was my favourite book.
I remember how deeply affected I was about Brent Spar. How dare these oil companies destroying our ocean and all of those fantastic species?! But I also deeply disagreed on how so called activists reacted - boycotting - yes, but physical attacks and arson - no way! I didn't want to be associated with people who cause issues and want to stop progress but don't provide any solutions.
When I decided I'm going to make saving the environment my professional future, many people - including people in my family - weren't happy with my choices. Originally I was planning to become a scientific journalist - writing columns like this post in my blog about environmental destruction. Later I wanted to save the ocean and concentrated on studying marine biology.
When I finished my degree in 2000, I had already learnt that job opportunities are extremely rare and there's no way to even pay off my student loan on the income of a typical greenie. I jobbed around and took whatever employment was offered to me just to make some money. And this is how I ended up in the oil and gas industry. At the beginning I felt ashamed because it seems to be against everything I stood for. Now I'm 38 years old. I have worked in the oil and gas industry for 15 years. And I'm proud of what I've achieved. I work in unique places, I deal with magnificent flora and fauna, I supervise a large team and undertake contractor management, so I mentor a LOT people. Our current site has a constant workforce of 8,500 people. Most of these people have B2b (back to backs), so I potentially have an impact on up to 16,000 people. They will hear me complain when they come to meetings and their paperwork isn't printed double sided. They know I will always make them turn their monitors off when they leave and our site wide waste management system has taught everyone how to recycle. Yes, we're building a gas plant. Let's face it, nobody will ever stop progress. But if we can progress with the least impact - then that's a win. When I open up my milk carton and cut the little plastic ring in half, people will always ask me why. I explain that this ends up in landfill and birds will scavenger and their beaks might get caught, so I cut it to stop that from happening. Now everybody cuts these plastic rings.
I'm not saying it's perfect - it hardly ever is. But at least I feel like I'm following my passion and trying to making a difference - every day.
So to answer my own question, why do we need an Earth Day? I quote out of this article:
Because it works! Earth Day broadens the base of support for environmental programs, rekindles public commitment and builds community activism around the world through a broad range of events and activities. Earth Day is the largest civic event in the world, celebrated simultaneously around the globe by people of all backgrounds, faiths and nationalities. More than a billion people participate in our campaigns every year.
So let's remember, also there might be only one official Earth Day, Earth Day should be celebrated every day - along with Mother's Day.
Thank you for this great article!!! And you are so right, we need an Earth Day!!! Always to remember what we have and what we can lose!!! I think you are doing a great job, in the oil- and gasindustry, and for our Mother Earth!!! Go on like now!!!
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