This week celebrates the 40th anniversary of Earth Day. In 1970, two men, John McConnell and Sen. Gaylord Nelson, (WI.) called for a movement to educate people about widespread environmental degradation. Their efforts, and the efforts of many others at that time, resulted in laws that made our air and water cleaner by requiring  companies and individuals to be responsible for their activities.

In Tulsa we began our celebration of Earth Day last Saturday, with the Tulsa Zoo's Earth Fest celebration. Last weekend's Fairgrounds Collection Event and Free Landfill Days encouraged people to clean up and responsibly dispose of waste. This week the celebration continues, with Enviro-Expo in downtown Tulsa and ONEOK Field Earth Fair, both on Earth Day, April 22.

I want to encourage you to make every day Earth Day. There are so many things you can do. Here are just a few:

Turn up your summer thermostat; reduce your water consumption; stop using pesticides; start a compost in your backyard; get off junk mail lists; plant a tree; buy products that use recyclable materials whenever possible; bring your own bags to the grocery store and reduce, reuse and recycle.

If we participate together, together we will make a difference!

Best Regards,
Dewey Bartlett
Mayor