GRAFENWOEHR, Germany -- Kermit the Frog proclaimed it "ain't easy being green," but community members learned otherwise during the Earth Day celebration at the Main Post Exchange, April 22.
The 2010 observance marked the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, which is celebrated worldwide to deepen reverence and care for the environment. The first Earth Day event started the largest grassroots movement in U.S. history and created what has since become an environmental movement.
Soldiers, school children and community members joined the movement and the sun participated by poking out from behind the clouds for most of the morning.
Environmental exhibits and youth-focused activities contoured the site with conservation, recycling and renewable energy as prominent themes of the day.
Community members tested their ecofriendly I.Q. and rummaged through recycled treasures at the flea market. Children got their hands dirty as they constructed craft projects with reusable materials and planted geraniums using compost-based soil.
"A compost pile is nature's way of recycling," explained Margit Ranz, environmental engineer, Separate or Recycle Trash (SORT), to the children.
Ranz hoped the hands-on activities will arm children with a desire to create environmentally sound habits in the future.
"We show them that the environment is interesting," she said. "These activities spark all of their senses and will hopefully teach them more about the environment and how they can continue to help."
The final task, building a bird's nest out of hay and moss, proved to be the most challenging.
"Birds must work hard," said 8-year-old Latrell Bowen-Davis. "But they recycle in their own way - using stuff they find to build a home."
In terms of environmental protection, a lot has happened since the first Earth Day. Still, it is more important than ever to preserve our environment, to use energy and resources efficiently and responsibly and, thus, help sustain the very planet on which we live.
For Abriah Batts, a fourth-grader Grafenwoehr Elementary School, becoming a steward of the environment is easy, and she amply does her part to contribute to environmental awareness.
"I help by recycling," said Batts. "If we don't, everything gets put in a big landfill under the dirt and it makes our environment dirty."
"Recycling makes our earth cleaner and better," she said.
Other highlights of the Earth Day celebration included renewable energy demonstrations, which showcased sun and wind energy, and insights concerning garrison conservation initiatives and electronic equipment disposal.
Disposal of waste electrical and electronic equipment in regular trash is prohibited by German law, according to Helmut Bueller, waste management officer for SORT.
Bueller felt the Earth Day celebration was an important avenue to inform the public how to properly recycle and how it may differ from what they are used to in the United States.
"We show them what they can and cannot recycle and how the process of each community works," said Bueller, adding the information is available through the SORT office. "We are here to help."
The all-day celebration kept children and adults engaged in educational fun, but also stressed the importance of long-term thinking.
"Protecting the environment cannot be done by one office; it must be done by everyone, every day," said Ranz.
Diana Barta, 11, agreed.
"It's easy if we all pitch in," said Barta. "We can make the earth better for everyone."
SORT, the city of Weiden, County Office Neustadt Waldnaab, Integrated Training Area Management and the Energy Office and Utilities Branch, Department of Public Works, Grafenwoehr, all contributed to the success of the Earth Day celebration.
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