Greenversations

By Jeanethe Falvey

This week, National Archives and EPA launched a contest that I wish I could enter myself. I could, if I change my name, age, birth date and occupation, but since that would be frowned upon I’ll stick to what I’m doing behind the scenes.

Unlike those of us excitedly working on this project, students ages 13 to 18 plus college or graduate school students CAN participate. If you know any, I encourage you to get their attention and pass along that now is the time for them to get inspired about their environment! Stand on a tree trunk if that’s what it takes (See Lorax).

Ordinarily and this is speaking from experience, when the younger generation becomes more in touch with their surroundings and the state of the planet, that heightened state of eco-awareness comes with a sense of “green-powerment.” You may find they come home from school rolling their eyes at you even more than usual if you toss away recyclable goods, or forget those re-usable shopping bags or leave the water running (they may have a point sometimes). They mean well. Regardless of the manner in which they communicate this newfound knowledge, in many cases they feel good doing so, especially when their friends are doing the same.

Right now, there is an opportunity for that energy and their creativity to be part of an international project, recognized by renowned judges and exhibited around the United States. On top of that, the grand prize for this contest will be $500, courtesy of the Foundation for the National Archives.

From now until January 6, 2011 “Document Your Environment” invites students to create any type of graphic art, a short video, or a poem using a Documerica photo as a prompt. Finalists and the grand prize winner will be announced in February 2012.

Contest judges include: former Documerica photographer and graphic artist Michael Philip Manheim; Cokie Roberts, author and news analyst for National Public Radio and ABC News; Sandra Alcosser, the first Poet Laureate of Montana and professor of poetry at San Diego State University. Of the nine finalists, one grand prize winner will be chosen by the Archivist of the United States, David S. Ferriero.

About the author: Jeanethe Falvey, State of the Environment project-lead at the United States Environmental Protection Agency, Boston, Massachusetts.

Editor’s Note: The opinions expressed in Greenversations are those of the author. They do not reflect EPA policy, endorsement, or action, and EPA does not verify the accuracy or science of the contents of the blog.

Every day we make choices that affect the environment, both positively and negatively. Share your thoughts on what you think is the single most important choice you make to lessen your impact on the environment.

What’s the single most important choice you make to reduce your impact on the environment?

Each week we ask a question related to the environment. Please let us know your thoughts as comments. Feel free to respond to earlier comments or post new ideas. Previous questions.

About the author: Larry Teller joined EPA’s Philadelphia office in its early months and has worked in environmental assessment, state and congressional liaison, enforcement, and communications. His 28 years with the U.S. Air Force, most as a reservist, give him a different look at government service.

I think you’ll understand why, as a Jewish father, my thoughts late last month were a bit more lofty, maybe more cosmologic, than usual: After two weeks of religious holidays that commemorated the birth of our planet and our purpose on earth, my family celebrated my daughter Miriam’s bat mitzvah, when she became responsible as an adult to follow life’s rules. Coincidentally and adding to what distracted me that week, which portion of the Torah did Miriam read from? The first portion of the first book (commonly known as Genesis), both called Bereisheet, describing creation of the heavens and earth, the flora and animals, and our traditional early generations.

You don’t have to be an environmentalist, and certainly not a believer, to appreciate how the first words of Miriam’s reading (“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth”) — with its endless, hopeful possibilities — contrast with the last (“The Lord saw how great was man’s wickedness on earth, and how every plan devised by his mind was nothing but evil all the time. And the Lord regretted that he had made man on earth, and his heart was saddened.”) Colorful, provocative, judgmental language, yes?, and what’s more human and easier to understand than receiving a nurturing, pristine garden of eden and promptly squandering it?

What a profoundly disappointing shame, just pages after “In the beginning….”! And what an apt metaphor for what we face today, but with our greatly enhanced tools for assessing, preventing and countering what we’ve done to Mother Nature! Responding to this challenge is what crosses my mind when friends and colleagues (lately, more frequently—is it the thinner, grayer hair?) ask if I’m getting ready to retire from EPA (no, not even close). Thinking of our stewardship of earth and people – Tikun Olam, our mandate to improve the world – doesn’t just sustain my devotion to EPA’s mission. It’s also a big part of why I was all verklempt (choked up—remember SNL’s Linda Richman?) while Miriam embodied the future as she invoked our origins three weeks ago.