On April 22, 1970, grass-roots activism came to call in workplaces across the U.S. It was a Wednesday, when the organizers of the country’s first Earth Day figured they had the best chance to entice employees out of their offices for the nationwide rallies. The ploy worked, to the tune of 20 million souls in attendance—and 44 years later, more than a billion people worldwide are expected to take part in clean-ups and attend speeches on the environmental state of the globe.
But you don’t have to go to France or India, or even Cleveland, to get a sense of Earth Day’s meaning. Ocean Beach and Point Loma have a few items on tap on the 22nd.
The Ocean Beach People’s Organic Food Market, 4765 Voltaire St., will raffle two pedal-powered bicycles in doing its part for a cleaner planet. No purchase is necessary, and everybody, not just members, is invited to enter. Members will receive 10 percent off bulk items, excluding coffee and herbs, encouraging bulk purchases with reusable containers and thus cutting down on packaging.
Ocean Beach is also host to San Diego’s first and only eco-soap refill shop. Blue Dot Refill, next to the market, at 4799 ½ Voltaire St., provides bulk body care, soap, laundry and other household cleaning products to consumers for refill. Brands carried are environmentally safe, popular labels sold at major retailers and natural food markets. Consumers bring in an empty container or purchase a new one on site, refilled in bulk and weighed for purchase by the ounce. The idea is to help reduce single-use plastics.
Elsewhere, Point Loma Nazarene University is taking it to the streets as the school opens its residence halls to faculty, who will invite discussions on sustainability issues between 7 and 8 p.m.
Meanwhile, Earth Day almost coincides with the annual Creek to Bay Cleanup, set for Saturday, April 26. I Love a Clean San Diego’s signature event. Since the event’s inception in 2003, nearly 45,000 volunteers have helped remove 1.65 million pounds of debris from locations countywide. The group emphasizes that 80 percent of the county’s coastal debris originates from inland locales.
