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TALLAHASSEE – Governor Charlie Crist and Lt. Governor Jeff Kottkamp today
joined Florida Education Commissioner Eric J. Smith, Florida Department of
Environmental Protection (DEP) Secretary Michael W. Sole, Florida Boy Scouts and
Girl Scouts and nearly 1,000 area students to commemorate the 39th celebration
of Earth Day at the Capitol. The theme for this year’s celebration is
Celebrating Environmental Citizenship in Our Community, At Home, At Work and At
School.
“Earth Day encourages our children to develop environmental citizenship at an
early age and learn about protecting our natural resources and quality of life,”
said Governor Crist. “Our students are our future, and helping them make
scientifically-informed decisions is vital to having a healthy and productive
environment and economy.”
DEP and the Florida Department of Education’s (DOE) Florida Learn and Serve
program partnered with a number of federal, state, local and community
organizations to host booths, exhibits and informational programs during Earth
Day at the Capitol. Activities and exhibits include:
- A scavenger hunt with DEP’s Office of Environmental Education. The
program also distributed reusable bags and tree saplings as well as
smoothies made by a solar-powered blender.
- Information and recipes to make “green cleaning”
supplies from DEP’s Sustainable Initiatives program.
- A touch tank with
horseshoe crabs, snails and hermit crabs from DEP’s Office of Coastal and
Aquatic Managed Areas.
- An informational exhibit about the Osborne Reef Waste
Tire Cleanup project in South Florida as well as activity making recycled paper
from DEP’s Division of Waste Management.
- Project sewing oyster mats used in
environmental restoration projects with The Nature Conservancy.
- Activity
showing visitors how to recycle yard and kitchen scraps through composting with
Leon County Recycling and Education.
- Exhibit from DOE’s Florida Learn and
Serve displaying student service learning projects from around the state.
“On Earth Day we recognize the important role education and science can play
in environmental protection,” said DEP Secretary Sole. “Geologists and other
scientists provide much needed information to make informed decisions while
educators encourage today’s youth to become responsible environmental stewards.”
Florida Learn and Serve is a federally sponsored grants program managed by
the Florida Department of Education that awards grants to schools and school
districts to engage youth in service learning. The program brought approximately
100 students from across the state to Earth Day to display their Service
Learning Projects.
“The preservation of our natural environment is a critical responsibility
that our children will soon inherit,” said DOE Commissioner Smith. “We must do
all that we can to educate and prepare them for this challenge to ensure that
future generations are able to experience the many wonders our planet has to
offer.”
The celebration of Earth Day recognizes the important role education and
science can play in environmental protection. The first official Earth Day was
held in 1970. With the mission of uniting the world toward a common cause of
environmental protection and conservation, the United Nations observed the first
global Earth Day with the annual ringing of the Peace Bell on March 21, 1971.
Later today, Governor Crist will join Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts at the
Governor’s Mansion to plant a tree. The scouts participating in the planting
have earned the Serve to Preserve Scout Award announced by the Governor in
February. The Serve to Preserve Scout Award program allows scout troops to earn
an award insignia by completing educational activities about Florida’s natural
environment.
For more information on Earth Day activities and environmental protection in
Florida, visit www.dep.state.fl.us.
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2012 State of Florida