The Earth Day parade

For the first time, the Greening Youth Foundation held its Earth Day Fun Festival at an Atlanta school and witnessed a steady stream of kids, parents and visitors showing their dedication to environmental preservation—and also to fun.

By the end of the event, more than 300 people attended the organization’s third annual Earth Day event, this time at Centennial Place Elementary School in downtown Atlanta. The GYF festival creatively mixed environmental activism with kid-friendly entertainment by trading the recyclable items that each family brought to the school for tickets that the kids could use to play games. Each family that pulled up in front of the school unloaded items such as cardboard boxes, plastic bottles, aluminum cans, plastic bags and old electronic equipment. In exchange, the family was handed tickets that the youngsters excitedly brought to the rear of the school to play such games as The Incredibles inflatable, Plant Walk, Polluted Fish Pond, Guess the Gummies, Putt on the Green, Beanbag Toss and face painting.

Five-year-old Sage Richards, who has been to all three festivals, said, “This Earth Day Fun Festival was sooo much fun!”

For the adults, the highlight of the afternoon was the vendors, who educated them about such environmentally-friendly products as recyclable bags, bath and body lotions, soaps and jewelry. In addition, local attractions like the Chattahoochee Nature Center explained to attendees all the exciting activities and camps that visitors can find at their site. The Wade Ford dealership had a lovely Ford Fusion hybrid (see picture below) on display, which boasts a remarkable 41 miles per gallon gas mileage.

Other vendors included the U.S. Forestry Service, Keep Atlanta Beautiful, One World Link, Southern Company, Atlanta Beltline, Whole Food, Camp Scene and Lotta Frutta.

“Greening Youth Foundation is grateful to Centennial Place Elementary for embracing our 3rd annual Earth Day Fun Festival by offering the school as a venue and working with us to create an exciting day of recycling, games, vendor displays, and environmental/wellness education,” said GYF Education Director Ruth Kitchen. “We are also very thankful to the numerous volunteers that came out to make this joyful occasion happen. This yearly community event brought together people of all ages to enjoy a beautiful day of celebrating Mother Earth. We all had a lot of fun!”

The event was co-sponsored by five Atlanta schools where GYF runs its CLEAN program: Best Academy, Springdale Park Elementary, Centennial Place Elementary, Hope-Hill Elementary and Cook Elementary. GYF provided a free shuttle service to bring parents and children from each of those schools to the event at Centennial Place. Children who attended the event received a “passport” when they arrived that they were instructed to bring to each vendor and have it checked off after learning a little about the company or product. A total of 77 children got checks from every vendor, for which they received an REI reusable plastic bottle and a reusable bag from Ford.

All in all, GYF collected approximately 700 lbs. of electronic equipment, 280 lbs. of plastics and aluminum, 200 lbs. of cardboard and 150 lbs. of plastic bags.

“I am hoping that you all decide to have the festival here next year,” said Principal Alison Shelton of Centennial Place Elementary. “We would love to be the host site.”

Former U.N. Ambassador and Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young and

Prominent Pastor Gerald Durley Call for Repeal of Fluoridation Law in GA

APRIL 13, 2011

Citing concern that fluoridated water disproportionately harms poor citizens and black families, influential Atlanta civil rights leaders Andrew Young and Gerald Durley are calling on top Georgia legislators to repeal Georgia’s mandatory water fluoridation law.

Young and Durley recently sent letters to legislators Chip Rogers, Robert Brown, Larry O’Neal, and Stacey Abrams, the majority and minority leaders in the Georgia Senate and House of Representatives.

Ambassador Young and Dr. Durley are both inductees in the International Civil Rights Walk of Fame in Atlanta. In their letters they expressed concerns about issues of fairness, safety, and disclosure related to fluoride chemicals in drinking water.

Increasing numbers of cities are examining the risks of adding fluorides to water to help prevent cavities after a 2006 National Research Council report documented volumes of research never conducted on the whole-body safety of fluorides and fluoridation.

Information in the report appeared in stark contrast to decades of assurances from fluoridation promoters that fluoridation has been extensively researched. The NRC report also described fluoride risks for babies, kidney patients, diabetics, and seniors, and set the stage for a little-publicized change of stance by the Centers for Disease Control on baby formula.

CDC now says that parents can use low-fluoride water when mixing milk formula to reduce the risk of permanent teeth staining caused by fluorides.

The Gerber company is selling an unfluoridated bottled water so parents and caregivers can avoid using fluoridated water in formula.

Bottled water may not be a feasible solution for many families, however.

In a personal letter sent to the Georgia legislators, Ambassador Young wrote, “I am most deeply concerned for poor families who have babies: if they cannot afford unfluoridated water for their babies’ milk formula, do their babies not count? Of course they do. This is an issue of fairness, civil rights, and compassion. We must find better ways to prevent cavities, such as helping those most at risk for cavities obtain access to the services of a dentist.”

He also stated, “My father was a dentist. I formerly was a strong believer in the benefits of water fluoridation for preventing cavities. But many things that we began to do 50 or more years ago we now no longer do, because we have learned further information that changes our practices and policies. So it is with fluoridation.”

Dr. Durley’s letter addressed disproportionate fluoride harm to black citizens’ teeth, and noted that with disproportionate amounts of kidney disease and diabetes in the black community, blacks are more impacted by fluorides.

He stated, “We also need to know why the full story about harm from fluorides is only just now coming out. I support the holding of Fluoridegate hearings at the state and national level so we can learn why we haven’t been openly told that fluorides build up in the body over time (and) why our government agencies haven’t told the black community openly that fluorides disproportionately harm black Americans…“

Others are also concerned about harm to minority citizens and sensitive populations.

In an April 6th letter to CDC Director Dr. Thomas Frieden, the President of the International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology noted, “The recent Health & Human Services attempt to somewhat lower the amount of fluorides in drinking water still does not address the fact that poor and minority families will be ingesting more fluorides than others, and it does not address dose – merely concentration in water.”

IAOMT President Matt Young also stated, “We do not wish to shoulder the responsibility of people thinking that dentists could possibly know how much fluoride each person has ingested systemically…”

A recent article in an American Association for Justice newsletter for trial lawyers described potential upcoming fluoride legal actions based on personal injury, consumer fraud, and civil rights harm.

In February a group of Republican and Democrat Tennessee legislators sent a letter to the State’s Health Commissioner describing worries about the impacts of fluoridation on babies and other groups.

Daniel G. Stockin of The Lillie Center Inc., a Georgia-based firm working to end the practice of fluoridation, salutes the leaders now speaking out on the issue.

“Ambassador Young and Dr. Durley see the potential implications of fluorides building up over time in our bones and joints, that seniors should know about this. They see the common sense arguments against fluoridation, such as the fact that poor families should not be forced for financial reasons to use fluoridated water in their babies’ formula.”

Now that the liability and health risks are better understood, Stockin foresees even more community leaders speaking out against fluoridation.

Students follow Ranger Smith at the Martin Luther King Jr. Site.

The Greening Youth Foundation has added another federal agency to its list of national partners in the foundation’s quest to create a new generation of environmental leaders. On April 5, the U.S. Forest Service announced that GYF was the recipient of a $50,000 grant, called the Children Living Energetically Advancing Nature (C.L.E.A.N.) Challenge project, to provide up to 200 Atlanta-area students with outdoor education experiences at the Chattahoochee Nature Center, Fernbank Forest, Martin Luther King, Jr. National Park Service Site, and the Chattahoochee National Forest.

GYF has already done important work with the National Park Service, the U.S. Department of Labor and the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife.

“The value of expanding our programs for children must not be underestimated,” said U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell. “Young people are tomorrow’s stewards of our public lands, and we have a duty to help them develop a lasting connection and passion for conservation of America’s great outdoors.”

GYF projects typically incorporate numerous outdoor educational experiences, coupled with service projects such as trail restoration, river cleanups, and invasive plant removal. After these transformative experiences, high school graduates and young adults are equipped to serve as the next generation of global environmental leaders.

“We are truly thankful for our partners who are receiving funding today,” said Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forests Supervisor George Bain. “These projects that get our nation’s kids outdoors are aimed at increasing access and inclusion so that urban and rural kids alike have opportunities to be active and learn about our great outdoors.”

The Forest Service has been a leader in conservation education and recreation opportunities for more than a century. The agency’s conservation education programs build on the principles of education, stewardship and skill development that result in career pathways for future stewardship leaders. These same principles support the goals identified in President Obama’s America’s Great Outdoors report and by First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move Outside campaign and can also be a catalyst to help combat the rise in childhood obesity, diabetes and heart disease.

“I am ecstatic that our CLEAN program goals align with our national partners and the First Lady’s Let’s Move Outside Initiative,” said Angelou Ezeilo, founder and executive director of Greening Youth. “Getting kids back outside, keeping them active and connecting them to the environment is a win-win for all!”

The funding, which was already in this year’s agency budget, leverages existing partnerships and will be distributed to “More Kids in the Woods” projects and “Children’s Forest” programs. Nationally, the Forest Service has committed $1 million to these cost-share programs that build on long-term partnerships that will result in a roughly 2.5-to-1 return on the agency’s investment. The funding just announced will provide greatly needed financial resources to expand the C.L.E.A.N. Challenge project.

The mission of the USDA Forest Service is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the nation’s forests and grasslands to meetthe needs of present and future generations. This year is the centennial of the Week’s Act, which led to the creation and restoration of many beautiful forests we enjoy today. National Forests continue to be an integral part of America’s environmental and economic well-being.