Environmental Voices: The PennFuture Podcast
Environmental Voices: The PennFuture Podcast
Earth Day, Environmental Justice, and Democracy
Every year on April 22, Earth Day marks the anniversary of the birth of the modern environmental movement in 1970. It was originally the brainchild of Senator Gaylord Nelson and was inspired by the protests of the 1960s, and so Earth Day began as a “national teach-in on the environment” and was held on April 22 to maximize the number of students that could be reached on university campuses.
Earth Day now includes a wide range of events coordinated globally by EARTHDAY.ORG including 1 billion people in more than 193 countries.
To talk about how PennFuture will be celebrating Earth Day, as well as how it connects to our work in Environmental Justice and Democracy work, we’ve invited two special guests to the show today.
Maria Ocasio serves as PennFuture’s Lehigh Valley Field Coordinator. She is responsible for identifying, engaging, and mobilizing a strong base of volunteers within the community to bring about change and awareness on environmental issues in the Lehigh Valley.
Through PennFuture’s Democracy for All program, Emily Gale is PennFuture's Director of Civic Engagement. In this role, Emily has created a new non-partisan voter registration program for PennFuture, which is currently active in active Monroe, Northampton, Lehigh, Dauphin, York, Lancaster, and Luzerne counties.
Links referred to in this episode:
https://www.pennfuture.org/join-the-ace-program
https://www.democracyforall-pennfuture.com/
For more information about PennFuture, visit pennfuture.org
Welcome back to another episode of Environmental Voices, the Penn Future Podcast. My name is Travis Dina Penn Future's Director of Development, and I'm your host. Environmental Voices is sponsored by Infinity Designing and installing solar power systems for homes and businesses in central and western pa since 2005. Information on how Infinity can help to achieve net zero energy can be found@infinity.com. Thank you. Infinity Environmental Voices is also sponsored by Penn Future Pennsylvania's watchdog for clean air, clean water, and clean energy. You can find out more and become a member@pennfuture.org. Today's episode is titled Earth Day Environmental Justice and Democracy. Of course, every year on April 22nd, earth Day marks the anniversary of the birth of the modern Environmental movement from 1970. It was originally the brainchild of Senator Gaylord Nelson and was inspired by the protest of the 1960s. And so Earth Day began as a national Teach-in on the Environment Day, and was held on April 22nd to maximize the number of students who could be reached on university campuses. Earth Day now includes a wide range of events coordinated globally by Earth day.org, including 1 billion people in more than 193 countries to talk about how Penn Future will be celebrating Earth Day, as well as how it connects to our work in environmental justice and our democracy work. We've invited two special guests to the show today. Maria Casio serves as Penn Future's Lehigh Valley Field coordinator. She's responsible for identifying, engaging, and mobilizing a strong base of volunteers within the community to bring about change and awareness on environmental issues in the Lehigh Valley through Penn Future's Democracy for All program. Emily Gae is Penn Future's Director of Civic Engagement. In this role, Emily has created a new nonpartisan voter registration program for Penn Future, which is currently active in Monroe, Northampton, Lehigh Dolphin York, Lancaster, and Luzerne Counties. Emily Maria, welcome to Environmental Voices.
Speaker 2:All right, thanks for having us. Thanks.
Speaker 1:You are both very welcome. I'm so glad to get a chance to talk with both of you today. Okay. So we are calling this episode Earth Day Environmental Justice and Democracy. Most of us know what Earth Day is, and I hope that most of us still know what democracy is, but let's start out by making sure that we all know what we're talking about when we say environmental justice. Maria. Go.
Speaker 2:Okay. So I am going to refer to Dr. Robert Buller, also the father of Environmental Justice. I'm gonna use his definition. Cause I think it's, it's pretty, pretty straightforward. And what environmental justice is, is it embraces the principle that all people and communities have the right to equal protection and equal enforcement of environmental laws and regulation. And honestly, Travis, that is something that we try to bring in our work every day. So that's, that's, um, it's a pretty, pretty good snapshot of what we have for that.
Speaker 1:I, I think that's a great place to start. And I love Dr. Buller. We had him on an event for Penn Future, um, oh, I can think about two years ago. And just such a great man and great speaker, and so inspiring and, and that's a great place to start. But I wanna hear more from both of you what environmental justice means to you when you really think about it. I mean, that's a good starting place, but, um, I'm might kick it over to Emily. What, what do you say?
Speaker 3:I'm back up a little bit to adding climate, uh, with environmental justice and, and Yes, Maria, a great definition. I wanna bri uh, put it in a little bit further. Uh, climate and environmental justice addresses the disproportionate impacts of climate change on bipo communities, uh, low income communities and other historically marginalized communities. And it also seeks solutions that address the root causes of climate change and social, racial and environmental justices, uh, in action, climate and environmental justice creates equitable access to clean air safety jobs, public transportation, open spaces, affordable housing, and more. That's the definition that we utilize because we work with communities that are marginalized. So we just go a little deeper when we talk about environmental justice.
Speaker 1:Cool. No, I appreciate that. That's awesome. Maria, anything else you wanted to add to that?
Speaker 2:Well, you know, Travis, I want to, Emily had mentioned something that really, um, kind of sparked, uh, another thought with myself, and that is we wanna make sure that we're reflective of the communities that we serve, because she's absolutely correct. We do oftentimes, at least in my, from from my, in my region, I have the Lehigh Valley region. Um, we do serve underserved communities. And, and, and when I say that mm-hmm.<affirmative>, I wanna make sure that I'm reflecting what that means as far as work that I can meaningfully bring. So I'll give you a, for example. Um, about 60% of the homes in Allentown were built before the 1960s. So what that means is there's a high likelihood of lead paint and other toxins like asbestos in their homes. And so when we talk about, you know, environmental, um, justices and what we can do, it's okay, how do we lift up those types of issues? What do we do to make sure that, you know, this group is reflected and these concerns are, are, are met? Sure,
Speaker 1:Sure. No, that, that makes a lot of sense, and I appreciate both of you. That helps to, I think, really sort of set the table for what we're gonna be talking about today and give us a good sense of that, because, you know, we're tying this all back in Earth Day and here we are. And, you know, I mean, it, it started out kind of as a, um, you know, hippie college campus sort of thing. And I'm not sure that environmental justice was exactly top of mind, uh, when it was first created, or even when it was sort of revived back in the, uh, the eighties and nineties. Uh, but the work that both of you're doing, especially this year, is really trying to, I think, amplify the work that you're doing in environmental justice and with those communities who are usually left out through the, the window or, or the glasses or, or what have you, uh, of Earth Day. Is that right?
Speaker 3:Yeah, it is. Um, you know, earth Day is, is a time where we can, I, I would say we would look at it like a tool. Mm-hmm.<affirmative>, we participate in Earth Day to, um, educate the public. You know, we've got materials that we'll utilize both the democracy work and the environmental work. But the big piece is listening to the community, you know, so we'll be at these events and we'll be asking questions, and we'll be learning about, you know, what concerns them, you know, what are their needs and, and so that we can go back and, um, debrief and figure out how can we uplift the concerns of the communities. Maria, Maria, you have more to say on that?
Speaker 2:Oh, absolutely. I mm-hmm.<affirmative>. So when I think of Earth Day, I mean, it's, it's wonderful, right? Everyone is, for the most part, you get folks who are just jazzed up. They're thinking, oh my goodness, we're recycling, we're doing the cleanups, we're doing all of the things. You're like, yes, that's also great. It's a great start. Emphasis on a great start. Mm-hmm.<affirmative>, I absolutely agree with Emily, that it is an, it's a great tool in which folks seem to be genuinely interested about being educated on, you know, different laws or legislation regarding environment that impacts them. But certainly it is a time to listen to their concerns and figure out, okay, what do, what do we need to do? But going further than that mm-hmm.<affirmative>, you know, that's such a snapshot. Oh, I'm sorry. Go ahead, Travis. No,
Speaker 1:No, I'm disagreeing with you. Keep going, Maria.
Speaker 2:That's such a, it, it's such a brief snapshot. What I really try to do at those events is that's a time to really not only listen to folks, but to get them to take more, to take more action. Because as you know, these issues don't start and end with Earth Day, and then we're all like, yay, we're done. You know, it's, it's all Yeah. Yeah. As much as sorta like, eh, we're done. We, we've all all agreed. We know how slow everything, we, we know how slow our, our government works and how long it takes with walls. So, um, it's an opportunity to get them interested and, okay, well, I want you to bring that same energy and focus year long. How else can we connect that makes an impact? So that way, you know, we get to this point and we're celebrating something, you know, together as a community. So I very much look at it as that, okay, we're gonna come out, we're gonna get you interested, and now we wanna do some longer actions, you know? Sure. I think it's really helpful in that way.
Speaker 1:So both of you mentioned, you know, going to events and meeting with people in person and, you know, talking about these issues and trying to get them, you know, e engaged in the work that you're doing. Um, tell me a bit about some of these events and, and maybe some of the people you're meeting. I'm may ask you both, but Maria, I'll start with you on this one.
Speaker 2:Okay. So we ha, so the first event we have, or at least for myself, is the Arts in Arts Walk event. And Emily, you will be joining me with that one. And it is a beautiful little park in Center City, Allentown, in which there's a, you know, bunch of different vendors that again, serve to serve the community in different ways, whether that's the water authority, talking about, well, you know, lead remediation or lead piping, um, the EACs, um, the environmental advisory councils, excuse me. Um, which is, you know, the local ways that you can get involved, organizations like ourselves again, that are taking action. So that event is just, again, a great opportunity to serve as some basic education folks, let them know that a, we exist in their community mm-hmm.<affirmative> to let them know what we're doing, and also learn how we can be of support to them, but how, um, how they can help us out if they're so, they're so interested. So that's one event that's pretty exciting. Um, I have another one, um, and, and I'm going to, I'm gonna date myself here a little bit. Um,<laugh>, I'm very much looking forward to working with the children, the youth. Uh, so we're gonna be at the, uh, college, uh, Muhlenberg College campus. And again, that's just an opportunity to really hear, you know, with this next generation mm-hmm.<affirmative>, what are some of the climate issues, environmental issues that they're, you know, focused on? What do they feel needs to be prioritized? Um, again, they inheriting a lot of, they're inheriting a lot of stuff. Uh, so it's, it's important to make sure that not only we're listening to them, but that they're a part of, they're a part of these decisions as well. So I'm really excited for that piece. And also one, one little kind of selfish, hopefully this happens for me. Um, I would very much love to plant a tree. I'm very basic in this way,<laugh>, uh, so I'm going to be doing a bunch of different cleanups, um, and again, really crossing my fingers that I get to plant one, just one tree or some flowers or something.
Speaker 1:Nice. Nice. Good. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Maria, you could come to Wilkes Ferry. We have an Earth Day event that is happening at a community garden where they'll be, um, creating pods to put in the earth at the community garden. So that's one of the events that, that we'll be participating in. And that's more a hands-on, let's just get to know the community and interact with the community. Um, and that's family oriented. Another one we'll be at is Granton. Um, Scranton University is having an Earth Day celebration, and we'll be tabling there, uh, giving out the information, sharing information. Uh, we look at it a little different. We're really, um, trying to intersect the democracy with the environmental justice, because, you know, if you don't have the power, if your voice isn't out there, then if you're not taking that first step, how are you taking the other step? So we are working on educating people, on making sure that your voice is heard, you have that decision making process, and you have the power to hold people accountable. Then you can, you know, advocate for those issues that concern you. Um, again, yes, we'll be at the arts park. That's the biggest one that we'll be attending as well. Um, we will be interacting with the crowd, just like Maria said. Um, we just like to see the people that we reach. Again, we focus on people of color mm-hmm.<affirmative>. Um, so we want to make sure that their voices are heard. Um, so getting them to come to these events and interact with us and just talk to us and develop those relationships is key. Once we've got the relationships developed, we're able to, um, again, have them take action steps, you know, whether it's, um, joining our Democracy Defender program or coming to a community conversation. We, we encourage that at these events.
Speaker 1:And you, you also, um, Emily, do things like voter registration, right? I mean, that's one of the tools too.
Speaker 3:Yeah. One of the tools is voter registration, voter education. We try to have, um, information at each event that pertains to that specific area. Mm-hmm.<affirmative>. So being nonpartisan, we try to educate people on where those that are running stand on issues that concern us. Mm-hmm.<affirmative>, in our case, you know, voting rights, you know, the environmental justice work. We, we, we do that.
Speaker 1:Emily, tell me a bit, if you can, about what the concerns are you hear from the people you're talking to when you're out at events like this.
Speaker 3:Well, a lot of times we hear people say, what does it matter? You know, our voices are, we, it doesn't matter if we vote, you know, our voices aren't heard. People come around when it's election time. Um, nothing changes. People in power make decisions for themselves and never think of us. So, you know, the, to me, that's heartbreaking. I was just gonna say,
Speaker 1:That must be really hard for you to hear when you're out there working and you hear that mm-hmm.<affirmative>, how do you not get discouraged?
Speaker 3:It, it, it, you know, I, I look at it like, um, you know, you, you do matter. You know, I have to have that empathy like, you do matter. I matter. I want my voice heard. You should want your voice heard. And you don't even have to be a registered voter to have your voice heard. You know, civic engagement doesn't mean one registered to vote and vote. Mm-hmm.<affirmative>, when you're active in your community, you are a decision maker no matter what. You know, and I, I I, I work on, that's really powerful. People realize. Yeah. Yeah. Making people realize that they matter and that, you know, just your voice and doing one little action helps with change.
Speaker 1:So, uh, uh, I mean, you talked a lot about, I mean, voting and civic engagement. Do you hear much concerns about environmental issues or the climate crisis or global, uh, warming at all? When, when you're out there chatting with people,
Speaker 3:People don't look at it. We work with grassroots and they don't look at it like that, you know, global. We're like, what, what about here and now, you know, and I'm gonna refer back to Maria. Sure. You know, talking about the lead issue, you know, that's more important. So climate action, civic, uh, environmental justice, they're looking at it like, my water's dirty. That's what matters to me. You know? Um, I can't have my kids in my house cause there's lead in paint mm-hmm.<affirmative>, you know, that's what matters to me. So utilizing the terms like climate justice is, is something that, um, we're not at a level yet to, to, to say that and have people actually wanna pay attention, you know? But when we go into a community, say, Hey, you're, you're, you're, your paint is filled with lead, they're gonna start to listen.
Speaker 1:I hear you on that. Yeah. Well, I mean, and I just read a, a report the other day that, um, Pennsylvania unfortunately is still in like the top five in terms of, of, uh, the number of feet of lead pipe that we're still using out there. Wow. Yeah. Which is, you know, I had no idea. Um, yeah. But it's a scary thing. I mean, um, Maria, um, um, tell me more too about like what, what you're hearing from people in terms of their
Speaker 2:Specific concerns. Well, and you know, at first off, Emily, I wanted to, um, kind of echo your sentiment and thank you. Where, you know, discouragement with, I mean, we all here, we understand that government rules really slow, but the, that impact, that impact is really felt by our, our more marginalized groups. And so it's very easy for, you know, people to feel disheartened and to think, okay, well what impact does this actually make? What do you know? What do I do from here? And, and absolutely. I mean, I hear like, you know, they're not listening to me. They don't have my intention in mind because there are, um, there are instances that, you know, you're, you're forced to pay attention. Right? So about two, two, was it two, three years ago we had a hurricane Ida, and it was pretty devastating. I mean, the, we had some pretty terrible flooding. And I think it was only then in my community that we realized, you know, oh my goodness, our infrastructure, we have some pretty antiquated infrastructure out here. I mean, you were swimming to your car if it didn't get flooded and the property damage that resulted, um, you know, folks couldn't, folks couldn't afford to, you know, make those, those changes that they needed. Mm-hmm.<affirmative>. And it, again, it occurred to folks that, okay, there's something real here. So I think it became, unfortunately in that instance, very tangible. So mm-hmm.<affirmative>, we started to, to question, you know, what does our infrastructure look like? Uh, this does impact maybe cuz I don't wanna feel like if it rains, I have to park up a hill and hope for the best. So I think once it became real, you know, people notice. So I hear things about, you know, poor infrastructure, another thing that's impacting us. Um, and it's not limited to just my area, uh, in Pennsylvania, but poor air quality. I mean, I know out here, I believe it was 2018, we had the 99 straight days with poor air quality. And folks are concerned because what they're seeing in real time is our new crop. Um, it is, uh, warehouses, yay,<laugh>. Um, and with warehouses, we know what that can bring. You know, it's damaging, you know, some of the infrastructure we have, some of our storm water management systems, you're seeing an increase with traffic because of, you know, all of it, all that rate brings with it. And, uh, now folks are starting to question like, Hmm. And we already, you know, we already have pretty high asthma rates and, uh mm-hmm.<affirmative>, you can see, or people are fearful that, hey, you know what, it's, it's actually going to probably get worse. So, you know, what, what do we do? So those are just some of the things also, again, I'm, I'm bringing it so selfish, bring me back to my community. That's all right. That's what you do. That's, that's what I do. Um, we tend to be on a heat island, so mm-hmm.<affirmative>, we tend to be, especially because we don't, you know, we don't have a nice transition of seasons anymore that is gone. It goes from winter to just heat<laugh>. So what's happening is we could be anywhere between like, you know, 10 to maybe 20 degrees hotter than our suburban counterparts. And, you know, for folks who can't, you know, they, they can't, maybe they don't, you know, they don't have air condition, air conditioning, they don't wanna use it. Um, they don't wanna run up electricity. But things like that where, what are some natural ways that they can cool down? And when you live in an inner city area, I, I mean, greenery is a, is a scarce commodity. So we have to find different ways, care are there, you know, tree programs that we can kind of put in place to start planning some to serve as, you know, natural canopies, like what mm-hmm.<affirmative>, what can we do? So folks are starting to question that now because, you know, unfortunately they're forced to. So when I'm out and about, these are, you know, there's some of the things that I hear.
Speaker 1:So, I mean, I'm hearing certainly a lot of concern about the immediate health impacts of, of water and of air quality. Um, you know, certainly, you know, those, those are things that affect people directly. And, uh, you know, you've both talked about, you know, people feeling, you know, somewhat disenfranchised in terms of, you know, maybe not feeling like, you know, their vote matters or their voice being heard. And, and, and as we said, all that can get really discouraging. But at the same time, I know that both of you do your job with, with hope and love. And what I'd like to flip the question on is what is, you know, giving you hope right now? What are you seeing on the really positive side in, in the work that's being done out there? And, and Emily will, we'll start with you on this one.
Speaker 3:Mm-hmm.<affirmative>. Oh. Um, you know, it one, one voice, one, one glint in an eye. When seeing a person actually have the aha moment, my I do matter. Um, my voice can be heard, and they actually want to become what I call a change agent within their community because they care. That's what keeps me going. Cause it only takes one to touch, one to touch one to touch one to create the change that needs to happen. Mm-hmm.<affirmative>. So, so that's what keeps me going, uh, every day.
Speaker 1:That's awesome. Maria, how about you?
Speaker 2:Well, I am so fortunate to have some amazing volunteers, supporters. Mm-hmm.<affirmative>, I mean, they just, the energy that they give, because I, you know, I often tell folks like, look, any job you are at, you are actually paid to be inconvenience, however mm-hmm.<affirmative> your volunteers, when they are there, they, it is because of pure passion and their belief in the mission. And it is, you know, sometimes you yourself, when you are dog tired, it's just so refreshing and it could be some of the most uplifting things you have ever seen. So when they take an action, like I said, we, we have many a ways to get involved. But, and, and I can't really pick one because they're just, they're, they're just all amazing. But we have a particular program in which we meet with our legislators mm-hmm.<affirmative>. And when I get these volunteers who, they come so prepared, they are asking all the questions, I don't even, I'm like, I don't even need to be here. You folks are just doing amazing. And they hold them accountable. It, it actually, it, it impresses me the most. I'm like mm-hmm.<affirmative>. And it just gives me that, that boost. Like, okay, I have these amazing folks who are willing to fight for this, so how dare I say that I'm tired, or, you know, I, you know, I'm exhausted when they're doing this. They're giving of their time to do this. So it's, it's been an absolute delight to see that. I have been so privileged to see that.
Speaker 1:Maria, you're, you're talking about the, uh, ACE program, I believe, right?
Speaker 2:Yes, I am.
Speaker 1:So, oh, since, you know, they're gonna be some people listening to this even after Earth Day and stuff. And so I wanna make sure that people know how to get involved. Um, and so, uh, uh, back to you on that. If someone did wanna get more information about the ACE program or get involved as a volunteer, Maria, how could, how could they do that?
Speaker 2:Well, if you would like to join our ACE program, which our ACE program, by the way, stands for the Advocates for Conservation and the environment. I know we use a lot of acronyms, but if you wanna join the ACE program, you can go to Penn Future's website. Mm-hmm.<affirmative>, can you go to join the ACE program and sign yourself up? And again, it's, those folks are just on some other level. They're amazing. I'm not bragging, but I'm bragging. There's another level.
Speaker 3:<laugh>, you can brag. It's OK to brag. It's okay to brag. They are amazing group. Yes.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. And Emily, same, same question for you. You know, aside from the, uh, great events and work you're gonna be doing around Earth Day and throughout April and and such, how can people continue to, to get involved or learn more about the work you're doing?
Speaker 3:Yeah, we have, um, a branch off of the Penn Future website. If you go to the pen future website, there's a, a link in there to go to our Democracy for All website mm-hmm.<affirmative>, and they can sign up for more information there. We will be putting up, um, information for people to sign up for our Democracy Defender program, which is a new program that we'll be implementing. Okay. And that, um, I'm excited about that. And then, um, as well as our community conversations.
Speaker 1:Tell me, tell me a little bit more about Democracy Defender.
Speaker 3:Ooh, our Democracy Defender program mm-hmm.<affirmative>, it is a, um, it's basically a training program that helps teach skills. Um, they'll gain a robust understanding of our model of civic engagement. Um, they will, it will equip our community members with skills and tools to gain a deeper understanding of integrated voter and civic engagement so they can become more, uh, active participants in our democracy and climate campaigns. It'll increase motivation. It will also, uh, strengthen relationships and foster team building to develop, uh, shared consciousness around neighborhood concerns. So we're really excited about it. There's like a, it's a, it's a six module program. Um,
Speaker 1:Online
Speaker 3:Is all going to be in person at first. Oh wow. We'll be rolling it out. Yeah. We'll be rolling it out in Wilkes Ferry to begin with. And, uh, hopefully after that we'll be able to critique it and have it in all of our areas. So I'm excited about it.
Speaker 1:That sounds great. That sounds really awesome. So again, people can go to the Penn future.org website to learn more about both the ACE program and then also to connect to Democracy for all. Uh, and I certainly encourage people to do that Before we wrap this up, cuz this is, uh, again, uh, during Earth Month and, and all about Earth Day. And, uh, I was just wondering if, um, either of you have memories of either your first Earth Day or your first time you were aware of it or something really cool that happened on Earth Day some year that you would, uh, wanna share with us. And Maria, I'll start with you on that one.
Speaker 2:Aw, you're taking me back. Okay.
Speaker 1:<laugh><laugh>
Speaker 2:My first Earth Day, actually. So when I was a kid, when I was in high school, I was a part of our Ecology club. Okay, cool. And I cannot believe I am blanking on my, my teacher's name. He was so sweet. It's been a while, folks<laugh>. But he had us just go around the neighborhood and it, and it took, it gave us ownership of our neighborhood. He had us go around the neighborhood and just really help to clean it up because in our, in our area, we had a lot of homeless embankments and we wanted to be respectful and mindful. Um, so we wanted to, you know, make sure there was a clean area for them to be as well. So we never did, you know, disturbed, um, their settings. But we mm-hmm.<affirmative>, you know, made sure that we kept it clean and we made sure that we, you know, I think we cleaned around a lot of the, the little Lake area too. So that, that's actually the first sense of Earth Day that I had was ecology club and planting. That's the thing. We did a lot of tree planting. And
Speaker 1:Maria, where was this?
Speaker 2:That was at Allentown Central Catholic.
Speaker 1:Awesome. That's great. What a great memory. How cool. Thanks for sharing Emily. Have
Speaker 3:A great memory. Yeah. Oh, um, my first one I would say when it really hit home was I was up at Lock Haven and participated in scuba diving Earth Day where we cleaned up the river.
Speaker 1:Whoa. How cool.
Speaker 3:<laugh>, it was so interesting to it to, to clean up underneath and bring all of that dirt and the tires, everything. I mean, anything that you could imagine besides our body<laugh> we picked up and had to lift out of the river. So that was, um, my, my first, uh, experience with Earth Day. And then, you know, one that really actually hit home was working with a group of kids here in Williamsport at a community center. Young kids, like from five to down, walking around the community center and picking up trash. Mm-hmm.<affirmative>. And, um, the kids realizing that they did that, you know, they, they didn't realize that it mattered. And then seeing them, you know, a couple days later and, and hearing them talk about their trash on the ground and how dare they, we clean that up. We own this. People shouldn't be doing this. So, you know, it makes an impact even on the young ones. Wow. And, and that one hit home more than any of'em knowing that we can influence the younger generation to own cleaning up their communities.
Speaker 1:That is awesome. Both of you. Wow. What, those are just really cool stories. Thank you both for sharing.
Speaker 3:Travis.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Do you have one?
Speaker 2:Yeah. Travis, we want
Speaker 1:To know I, I'm, I'm, I'm, do you I'm feeling really embarrassed because I think like the first earth that I was aware of was basically cuz I was like, you know, hitting on this girl who wanted to go to a concert outside that was, you know, something about Earth Day. And I'm like, that sounds cool.
Speaker 3:<laugh>
Speaker 2:Love bought you to it and love keeps
Speaker 3:You still
Speaker 2:To it.
Speaker 1:Right? Oh yeah.
Speaker 3:That's great.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we'll just leave it at that<laugh>. But, um, that's, that's so cool. But that's awesome. Thank you both Maria, Emily, so much for this conversation. I've, I've really enjoyed it. It's great learning more about the work that both of you are doing and, uh, I encourage our listeners to, uh, to follow up on that as well. Uh, and, and just to, to keep on, uh, you know, being hopeful as you, as you move forward with this, whether it's using Earth Day as a tool or anything else as we move forward. Thank you both so much for your time today on Environmental Voices. Well,
Speaker 3:Thank you for having us.
Speaker 1:You are very welcome. Happy Earth Day.
Speaker 3:Happy.
Speaker 1:And that does it for this episode of Environmental Voices, the Penn Future Podcast. Thanks again to Maria Ocasio and Emily Gale for their work with Penn Future and what they bring to their communities every day, not just on Earth Day. There are so many Earth Day events going on throughout Pennsylvania, organized by many great organizations in every community, most of them on Saturday, April 22nd, but others on the days around that in the most recent Penn Future Newsletter, we feature a number of them, including ones in Erie, Chester County, Wilkesboro, Scranton, Allentown, Lancaster, and many more. You can visit the Penn Future website for this list, or just search Earth Day 2023 in your location. I do hope you have a chance to celebrate Earth Day this year, even if it just means taking a walk in your own neighborhood, go with some friends or family, grab some gloves and a trash bag, and do your own neighborhood cleanup. If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to subscribe and leave behind a review of Environmental Voices, the Penn Future Podcast, wherever you get your podcast. And as always, please let us know what you'd like to hear on future episodes. And thanks again to our newest sponsor, infinity Designing and installing Solar Power Systems for homes and businesses in central and western PA since 2005. Information on how Infinity can help to achieve net zero energy can be found@infinity.com. Environmental Voices is also sponsored by Penn Future Pennsylvania's watchdog for clean air, clean water, and clean energy. You can find out more and become a member@pennfuture.org. And if you're interested in becoming a sponsor, please let us know. Today's show is produced by Michael Mirar and Jess Catter. It was written by me, your host and audio engineer. Travesty Nicole. Our executive producer is Matt Step. Our music is thanks to api bay.com. Thank you for listening to Environmental Voices, the Penn Future Podcast.
