The unfortunate irony of Earth Day cleanups

Keira Wallace, 12, of Chesterton, a member of the Liberty Hot Shots 4-H club, holds her pet chinchilla R2D2 in her lap Saturday at the Porter County Expo Center during an annual Earth Day celebration. The 4-H club set up a petting zoo for the event.

Ideally, people would treat the Earth with kindness and respect every day. But we're humans, so that doesn't happen. Every April 22, Earth Day comes around to remind us to do a little better for the planet. It's a day founded in 1970 to demonstrate

From tiny homes to dog toys made from recycled materials, the fifth annual JCC Earth Day Community Celebration was packed with environmentally friendly attractions for all ages. Thousands of people flocked to the Jewish Community Center on Sunday 

Earth Day Celebration, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday. A celebration will take place on the Parks Library lawn on the Iowa State campus. Displays, prizes and free bike tuneups will be available. A campus cleanup will follow and an Earth Day reading lecture

Rather than a big to-do with lots of hoopla for Earth Day, they skip an annual litter cleanup on April 22 in favor of cleanups year-round. And they have a favor to ask: If you're going to do a big cleanup for Earth Day, can you please not use plastic bags?