While most people may know that the Army defends American soil from foreign and domestic enemies, they may not know that the Army also defends the land by being good stewards of the environment.
On April 22, Fort McPherson and Fort Gillem celebrated Earth Day at Jacobs Park on Fort McPherson by educating their communities on the ways these installations are taking care of the planet.
Heather Hawkins, Base Realignment and Closure Office specialist, said the event, in addition to being a public outreach program for her office, served as a way to educate the community on how they can be good stewards of the environment.
"We wanted to make people aware that their actions can impact the environment both positively and negatively," she said.
Hawkins said that a significant portion of the event was aimed at educating children about the environment.
This was achieved courtesy of several informational displays, presentations from subject matter experts and Earth Day related activities.
Children from the Child, Youth and School Services preschool and pre-kindergarten classes joined home schooled children in planting wildflower seeds, learning about tree life, coloring and completing other arts and crafts with an Earth Day theme.
Amelia Guill, administrative assistant for the BRAC environmental office, helped create the activities for children.
One of the most popular and educational was an interactive game that allowed children to pick an item out of a box and determine which of three bins (trash, recycling or reuse) to place the item in.
"I created it myself. It was something kids could understand and helped them recognize what they need to throw away, recycle or reuse," Guill said.
Armed with this knowledge, Guill said kids could take part in the recycling program, thereby helping to reduce much of the trash in landfills today.
"Most items we throw away stay in landfills and never decompose," she said. "Children who know how to help their Families recycle can encourage their parents to not collect so much trash."
Though small in stature, kids can help protect the earth by serving as good partners to the larger hand of the military, said Owen Nuttall, chief of the BRAC Environmental Office, adding the military takes such an active part in the care of the planet because the government is the largest land owner.
"The DoD owns a lot of land to protect. That's one reason why the DoD takes the lead," he explained.
Currently, Nuttall said the installations are doing many things to help the environment, with their main focus aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
To this end, Nuttall said the installations have implemented measures including replacing government services administration vehicles with electric vehicles.
The BRAC environmental office also completed an initial carbon footprint study to see how the installations are affecting the environment, Nuttall said.
Hawkins said amenities such as solar power lights, energy efficient light bulbs, waterless urinals and active recycling programs - including electronic waste programs - are also being used to reduce negative environmental impacts.
A recycling point for electronic wastes, such as computers and TV sets, was set up at the event to collect these items. Still, Nuttall said the government can only do so much, adding that it is important for individuals to do as much as they can. For example, Nuttall said people can keep their thermostat at 78 degrees in the summer and 68 degrees in the winter, use environmentally friendly detergents, avoid littering, carpool or recycle at home.
"We want to sustain the environment," Hawkins said. "We live on the earth and want to make sure future generations can enjoy it."
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