earthday.jpgEarth Day is an annual reminder of our responsibility/stewardship for this planet. Frankly, we haven’t been doing a very good job. Here in urban Utah, for example, the air quality is far from ideal — in the past eight years, Utah has approached or exceed the EPA standards for PM2.5 (15 micrograms per cubic meter) nearly every year. “Particulate matter is associated with both respiratory-related and cardiovascular effects. For instance, short-term exposures may aggravate asthma and bronchitis and have been associated with heartbeat irregularities and heart attacks. Long-term exposures have been linked to deaths from heart and lung diseases.”

The American Lung Association ranks Salt Lake City, Logan and Provo in the top 10 worst polluted cities in the country, at No. 5, No. 6 and No. 9, respectively. Clearly, there is a problem. The cause? Well, there was that Geneva Steel eye sore that, although happily demolished, has been replaced by other pollutant belching industrial plants. And then there are all our cars, trucks and SUVs which aren’t helping much. And all of that electricity! Provo gets much of its electricity from, get this, a COAL-FIRED POWER PLANT. Are we still in the stone age?!?

Do we care? Well, I know this much, when I go down to Saint George (and its wide open spaces) for the weekend, I can breathe much easier in the mornings. And when you crest the point of the mountain going to Salt Lake City, you can see the thick colored haze smothering the valley. We all inhale that suspended garbage. Every one of us.

So, what do to? Well, we can plant more trees, recycle, use less energy (compact florescents, etc), use renewable energy (solar, wind, hydro), drive less, pollute less (use less packaging), plant a garden, drive a hybrid (or, MUCH better, an awesome electric vehicle.)

But whatever the case, we need to do something. What are you going to do to help clean up this planet? I, personally, have a few ideas I’ll be sharing soon…