When Warren Casteel sent me an email and asked me to promote the Live Green Expo that is happening in Plano on April 16th I thought, OK this sounds interesting. Warren is always full of unusual facts and information and always seems to be doing something that helps us all engage more completely in bicycling advocacy. So from that note I went to their website http://livegreenexpo.net/home.html and started doing a bit of exploring on my own.

Honestly, this looks like a LOT of fun and I plan to head over there after a work event that day. I’m not quite sure how many years they have been holding this expo but it looks like it has been around awhile because there is something there for everyone. The activities range from kite making to a nature challenge for kids, Team Eisenbergs displaying some of their biking tricks, PCF and Dart teaching you the rules of the road, BikeDFW promoting bicycling education as well as how to commute via bike and much more. There will be a fair trade market with lots of goodies for sale from various artisans,  a fashion show for the eco-fashionistas, food, lots of instruction on how to do just about anything in a “green” way, and LOTS more.

As I was looking through their site I started to think back to when I was young and when Earth Day actually started. So, here is a bit of history to consider.

• Earth Day was first held on April 22, 1970 so this year marks the 42nd year of celebration.
• In 1970, when it began, the US had a strong hippie and flower child culture that started a lot of different thinking, the Beatles released their last album, student protests were rampant due to the Vietnam War, the voting age was lowered to 18, and the Concorde made its first supersonic flight, among other things.
• A US Senator from Wisconsin, Gaylord Nelson, founded Earth Day after witnessing the aftermath of the 1969 massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, California. He thought that if he could capture the energy of all the student protesters and focus their efforts on the environment that something pretty great could happen.
• Due to these efforts, he and his staff were able to mobilize 20 million Americans to take to the streets to demonstrate for a healthy, sustainable environment in rallies held from coast to coast. Groups that had been fighting against oil spills, polluting factories, toxic dumps, freeways, the loss of wilderness and wildlife realized they really had a lot in common.

At this unusual time the moon and stars must have been aligned because people of all political parties, socio-economic backgrounds, and from varying jobs helped create an environment that led to the creation of the EPA and passage of the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species Act.  Pretty amazing stuff!

So, my suggestion to you is to go, enjoy, learn something about cycling (and recycling) to improve the environment. And as Gandhi said “Be the change you want to see in the world.”