Eco-Ethics

The city of Oxnard will hold its ninth annual Earth Day celebration Saturday at Plaza Park. Last year, about 3,000 people showed up for the free event, and a similar turnout is expected this year.

“Making a World of Difference” will offer live music, food and community displays with an ecological theme.

Earth Day, now in its 31st year, was the brainchild of John McConnell, who launched the event on the first day of spring in 1970. According to the official International Earth Day Web site, the mission is clear: “All individuals and institutions have a mutual responsibility to now act as Trustees of Earth, seeking the choices in ecology, economics and ethics that will eliminate pollution, poverty and violence, foster peaceful progress, awaken the wonder of life and realize the best potential for the future of the human adventure.”

The April Earth Day events were originally known as the “Environmental Teach-In.”

According to event organizer Desire Ventura, “This is just a small community event. The majority of the booths there, we are offering free to community services organizations such as the Del Norte Regional Recycling Transfer Station--they run our recycling program. Since we focus on the community, expect to find such things as voter registration booths, the Fire Department, the Leukemia Foundation, the Boys & Girls Club, stuff like that. There are going to be at least 40 booths, but we’ve been getting two or three calls a day, so there could be more.”

Representatives of the developing Cal State Channel Islands will be there with the environmentally friendly vehicles used on campus. The Channel Islands National Park will have a booth, as will many waste recycling agencies, not to mention the U.S. Mineral Management Agency and the California Rural Legal Assistance group.

Numerous animal rights and animal protection organizations will be on hand, including the Organization for the Care and Respect of Animals and Save the Manatee. The Audubon Society will have a booth, as will Wild Life Care of Ventura County. The Master Gardeners also will share some of their secrets, and this is the place to learn everything you ever wanted to know about worm composting.

For entertainment, there will be Mexican folk-dancing from the Inlakech Dancers. For the rockers, Uncle Monkey will play some funk and classic rock, beginning around 11 a.m.

“This is a real low-key event,” said Ventura. “Our goal is to educate the public on recycling.”

DETAILS

Earth Day 2001 at Plaza Park, 5th and C Streets, Oxnard; 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday; free; 339-1715.

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Bill Locey can be reached by e-mail at blocey@pacbell.net.