Gallup to celebrate Earth Day

Lars Pritzel fills a recycling container with plastics at the Rainbow Recycling Center on November 3rd, 2007. [Brian Leddy / Independent]

By Bill Donovan
Staff Writer

GALLUP — It used to be quite acceptable for many people to treat their concerns about the environment the way a lot of people treated their religious obligations — going to church on Easter and Christmas and feeling they have done their duty to God.

So there would be people who got concerned about the environment when Earth Day rolled around.

“People would go pick up trash on that day or so some other symbolic act,” said Betsy Windisch, who is helping coordinate a number of Earth Day activities for the Gallup area this Saturday.

Then Americans became scared, thanks to a documentary about former U.S. Vice President Al Gore’s efforts to educate people on being “green” and a bunch of statements by scientists and also politicians who, for the first time, began taking the environment seriously and began telling people that unless steps are taken immediately to protect the environment, future generations may find themselves in a far different world.

Technically Earth Day is Tuesday, but most communities are holding Earth Day events this weekend and next to get the maximum number of people involved.

In Gallup, most of the events will be held next Saturday at the First United Methodist Church, although the church will be sponsoring a speech on Sunday on environmental issues as well.

It’s appropriate that the Methodist Church is the focal point of this weekend’s activities because it was the church, along with some of its members and some concerned community members, who began sponsoring events for Earth Day more than 10 years ago, at a time when only environmental “geeks” would be out there trying to get people worked up about the environment.

This year’s main event at the church, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., shows just how far things have come with a good crowd expected to participate in this year’s events.

Everyone likes a rummage sale, so the main attraction at this year’s event will be a daylong rummage sale.

Recycling is big this year and the McKinley Citizen’s Recycling Council will the main sponsor of the recycling exhibits, which will include a demonstration on what can be recycled and how much it can save a family.

Gallup’s Community Pantry can now bale paper so people will be taught what can of paper can be recycled. People will also be able to bring recyclable items, such as aluminum beverage cans, clean aluminum foil and pie cans, corrugated cardboard, newspapers, bimetal cans and scrap metal, and turn them in. People can also turn in plastic, but only No. 1 and No. 2 plastic and it must be sorted by number.