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Earth Day a great cause to celebrate

Today is Earth Day, a time to celebrate Earth and hopefully do something positive, big or small, to sustain the planet.

It seems like we’ve had Earth Day forever, but that is not the case. The first Earth Day was held in 1970, back in the days of unspeakable pollution in America.

We in North Dakota can relate, having witnessed our own ‘Silent Spring’ this year following the DAPL protest. The amount of trash and filth left behind by a bunch of people who claimed to be defending Earth and water was at best perplexing.

But we should not let the deliberate carelessness of the few darken the successes of the greater population. These days, at least in the United States, the rivers, mountains and plains are considerably cleaner than they were in the 1950s and ’60s. And our young people, unless we guess wrong, are much more informed about and considerate of their environment.

Earth Day, one could argue, spawned generations of stewards of the land.

We, of course, cannot rest on our laurels or barely even pause to reflect. It’s springtime in North Dakota and the litter of winter is passing us by, literally. In the wind.

That is why today should be viewed as an opportunity to pitch in, literally, and clean up our surroundings.

One opportunity would be at Minot’s Roosevelt Park Zoo, where volunteers will gather at 10 a.m.

Or, just pick up a little of whatever trash you see throughout the day. This time of year, unfortunately, there is plenty to go around.

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