Note: This article is one of a series celebrating Mariposa Memories and was originally published during Spring 2013
The Mariposa County Solid Waste & Recycling Division is pleased to announce the following winners in its 2nd Annual Earth Day Essay Contest:
- 1st Place Gr. K-2 and Grand Prize Winner;Bella Twiss, Gr.1 for her illustrated essay The Beautiful Butterfly;
- 1st Place Gr. 3-5—Ava Dunlavey, Gr. 4, El Portal Elementary School for her essay Earth Day!!! And What It Means to Me;
- 1st Place Gr. 6-8—Will Fontana, Gr. 8 for his essay, What Earth Day Means to Me.
Participants were asked to write on the topic “What Earth Day Means to Me.” Winners received cash prizes donated by High County Health Foods & Café and were recognized by the Board of Supervisors during their April 23, 2013 meeting.
Greg Ollivier, Mariposa County Solid Waste and Recycling Manager introduced the winners at the April 23, 2013 Mariposa County Board of Supervisors meeting.
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The Beautiful Butterfly by Bella Twiss, Gr. 1This is a story about why we should not litter.
There was a beautiful butterfly and she was flying to a tree. She landed on garbage. Then she saw a little girl. The little girl picked up the garbage and she saw the butterfly trapped inside of a can. She couldn't get out because she had a broken wing.
The little girl tells everybody not to litter. The little girl saw someone littering and she picked it up.
What Earth Day means to me is that it is important to pick up trash and not litter.
Earth Day!!!! and What It Means to Me by Ava Dunlavey, gr. 5
Earth Day means a lot to me. It is a birthday for the Earth. It gives you a chance to really see how beautiful the world is. When I look at snowy mountains or just a field of poppies, I think it is so beautiful.
There are many things that I think we can do to help the world. Even though the Earth still has trees and flowers, we can do more. One thing I think we can change about the world is that we can stop cutting down trees in the jungle. Another thing that I think we can change about the world is that we should stop throwing trash in the sea. Think about the animals that get hurt by plastic bags. We can also do more recycling and maybe use more electric cars instead of cars that run on gasoline. We can stop cutting down trees and disturbing wildlife. Trying to take care of the world is important. Try and stop all the pollution in the oceans and rivers. Our Earth is special so we have to take care of it or we might end up like the people that live in a spaceship in the movie WALL-E.
One day when I was going to the park in Oakhurst I got out of the car and there was trash all over the ground. I picked up the trash and threw it in the trash can right next to me. I can’t believe that people don’t just throw their trash in the trash can!
As I said Earth Day means a lot to me. I try my best to help the world and I hope you try too.
What Earth Day Means to Me by Will Fontana, Gr. 8
Earth Day for me is something I look forward to every year. The crowds of people that show up always serves as a reminder that people all over care about the important and pressing environmental issues of today. Along with Earth Day being a great way to find out about our earth it also stresses the importance of us, as humans, being good stewards to the earth. It serves a much-needed annual smack in the face as to the damage we inflict upon what is for now the only option we have as residence.
For me personally, earth day is a time that serves to remind me to be environmentally conscious. Sometimes in the hustle and bustle of homework, friends, and iPods, it can be easy to forget that everything we do has an impact on the environment. The smaller the impact is, the better, and earth day is a great way to get a yearly reminder of this.
Earth Day to me means the remembrance of extinct species, the conservation of clean water that we all need to survive, and a valiant attempt to preserve the world’s oceans. It means people coming together to preserve what we have, it means saving endangered species, and it means salvation for this beautiful planet on which we all live.
When I hear “Earth day” I don’t think of one day out of three hundred and sixty five; I think of the people out there who care, I think of the face of the clouded leopard, and the cheetah, and of canis-lupis: the North American gray wolf, I think of this united world we live on. That while only a tiny part of the universe, the fact remains…there is only one earth.
