Happy Earth Day - 2020. Outdoor activities move to virtual and limited for this year. Keep pushing for sustainability.

Where are we in regards to protecting our fragile ecosystem?

Do you know the approximate age of the Earth? 4.543 billion years. Yet today, 4/22/2020 is just the 50th Earth Day celebration. ACTING on Earth Day is more than just a movie night, it is taking action and participating, doing things differently, ending (sub)Urban Sprawl.
 

 A brief history of Earth Day: The April 22 Earth Day was founded by Senator Gaylord Nelson, and was first organized in 1970 to promote ecology and respect for life on the planet as well as to encourage awareness of the growing problems of air, water and soil pollution.

Prior relevant blog posts: Some relevant posts on my personal blog include Invasive Species, creating a backyard oasis, Celestial Events: there have been many posts throughout this blog covering these topics and how they are relevant to our South Miami-Dade Communities. Please take the time to check a few out. It is all about my transparency. I am about preservation of Palmetto Bay. That means thinking differently, saving the 22 acres of the rapidly deteriorating Pine Rocklands at the Palmetto Bay Village Center.

Finally, on a silly, but fun note, no special day is complete without viewing Google's special Earth Day animated doodle on the Google site.

Happy Earth Day – 2020!

Eugene Flinn

Special note for 2020- the Coronavirus Pandemic has place restrictions on the activities, but should not curb anyone's enthusiasm toward our events.  

The original council worked hard to lay a great foundation to last through raining days - or a pandemic, to be different and make the simple things, like Arbor Day and Earth Day, into fun, engaging, and positive educational events.  As Mayor, I initiated the Lady Bug release at area schools, and even added a release at the Ken Robinson Memorial Gardens at Coral Reef Park for the movie night. 

We brought internationally known Eco Artist Xavier Cortada to Ludovici Park to participate in the 2010 Arbor Day event.

We engaged the Green Mobility network to put together an outstanding family bike ride that included environmental talks including South Florida Water Management District speakers at designated rest stops. 

We partnered with the Nature's Posting, Tropical Audubon Society (TAS) and volunteers including resident Beth Kibler, to provide guided kayak/canoe trips from Snowden's / Deering Point. Residents were able to view the mangroves and learn about the native birds and other bay animals and plants of this South Florida ecosystem – and appreciate Palmetto Bay from the Bay for several years. (CLICK HERE)

We took advantage of special relationships and the talents of residents located in Palmetto Bay who participated in the 2008 movie night during Earth Week, bringing out the actual owls from the movie "Hoot."  We worked with area private schools that brought their students out and participated in area clean ups (The Magical Musical Litter-Bus Tour).  We even had groups such as Friends Forever jump in on impromptu cleanup of the Dog Park in honor of Earth Day!

We will return to those activities once this pandemic is over.  I look forward to participating with friends, neighbors and collegues in the very near future.