Downtown Kent celebrates Earth Day for seven days

Christina Thomas
April 16, 2009

Downtown Kent will celebrate its appreciation for mother earth all next week.

In honor of Earth Day, Standing Rock Cultural Arts and Main Street Kent are hosting the third annual “Who’s Your Mama?” Earth Day and Environmental Film Festival.

“The mission of the festival is to celebrate planet earth and bring awareness to the general public about the ecological activities that are happening in our area and around the world,” said Jeff Ingram, producer of the festival and executive director of Standing Rock Cultural Arts.

Ingram said they were successful both years in achieving their mission, and attendance and participants have expanded each year.

“The theme for this year’s festival is the green economy,” Jeff Ingram stated on the Who’s Your Mama Web site. On the Web site, Ingram said even though the economy is in a slump, jobs can still be created if people are thinking green.

“This is a good time to start fresh and create a new economy based on the principles of care for mama earth,” he stated. “Any activity that does harm to the essential elements of life cannot be considered to be part of a good economy; let’s think about future generations.”

Ingram said the examples of using mother nature to improve the slumping economy are spread into every corner of people’s lives. In Portage County, the local economy could improve by better connections between farmers, grocery stores and restaurants, Ingram said.

“We have a lot of fresh water and good soil, which gives us an advantage over other areas that have to import water from great distances,” he said. “We should preserve this valuable resource.”

Walt Adams, a member of the Kent Environmental Council, said the event was successful the first two years, and Kent is fortunate to have the festival.

“It’s been a tremendous asset to the city, having this event,” Adams said. “It gives people a chance to see various alternatives for conserving energy.”

Adams said there are many benefits to attending the festival because people can learn a lot from the environmental films.

“There’s hardly an action you can take that doesn’t influence the environment, either directly or indirectly,” Adams said. “So part of the objective to educate people about environmental issues is to make them aware of some of these connections.”

Ingram said he hopes people who attend the festival will leave with a memory of a good party for mama earth.

“I hope people walk away with a greater understanding of the wonders of planet earth and how humans can have a positive impact by creating less pollution and embracing all life forms, except mosquitoes,” he said.

More information about the next week’s event can be found at www.whosyourmama.org.

Contact public affairs reporter Christina Thomas at [email protected].