Earth Day In Kansas City

It's the 40th Anniversary of a holiday invented by bored hippies way back when environmentalism was about getting chicks naked and not making everybody feel guilty.

And while Earth Day is a lot less fun and just another manifestation of white guilt, it certainly has become popular around this cowtown that was founded on environmentally destructive slaughter and theft and maintained by enforcing the kind of systemic disparity that keeps people from really thinking about the toxic way most American consumer goods are manufactured in emerging nations.

Still, this holiday should remind us:

There are local workers desperately hoping to tell their story of a toxic environment at the Bannister Fed. Complex. NBC Action News reporter Russ Ptacek did nearly all of the ground breaking work in this case.

And then there's highly touted local urban farming which has it's supporters and detractors but isn't useful to me until they start growing pre-made chicken salad.

And I almost forgot . . . The only practical application of all this eco-goodwill is discounts on appliances that really make our carbon footprint even bigger.

Finally, a recent Northland weed bust shows us that this society isn't really in tune with Mother Nature in any holistic way . . . Or at least that's what some stoner told me when he accidentally stepped on my shoe and I was about to slap him in front of his hottie lady friend at QuikTrip this morning. The insight changed my mood, or at least I wanted to get out of the vicinity so I wouldn't get a contact high.

In any event, be sure to celebrate Earth Day in some significant way . . . I'm thinking about recycling some of my used motor oil to fertilize the lawn of my gentrifying Westside neighbors. But I won't do it. I really do want to contribute so I'll probably just drive across town to recycle a few beer bottles.

More links and content on the way.