Although Earth Day was celebrated this past weekend in Jim Thorpe, the official date of "Earth Day" is Friday, April 22.

According to Wikipedia, the on-line encyclopedia:"Earth Day is a day that is intended to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth's natural environment."Earth Day was founded by United States Senator Gaylord Nelson as an environmental teach-in first held on April 22, 1970."While this first Earth Day was focused on the United States, an organization launched by Denis Hayes, who was the original national coordinator in 1970, took it international in 1990 and organized events in 141 nations."Earth Day is now celebrated globally and many schools have week-long activities.Yet, there are still many people who don't know about Earth Day. From the looks of our woodlands, trails, roadsides, and fields, many people obviously don't care.It's a shame about all the littering and illegal dumping occurring. Most municipalities have great curbside garbage pickup, but it doesn't deter the slobs. They still toss bags of garbage, old appliances, and construction materials along rural cemeteries, off rural roads, and anywhere else they think they won't be seen doing it.One of the problems is that some townships still don't mandate municipal garbage pickup. There are some poeple too lazy, too stingy, and too compacent to seek a garbage collector of their own.Earth Day shouldn't be a one-day event. It should be a weekly celebration, AND we all should observe it year-round.Maybe over-regulation is a part of the problem. It's difficult in some communities to dispose of car tires, because some garbage collectors won't take them.Getting rid of refrigerators and air conditions mandates the removal of freon and for many people, it's easier tossing the appliance in the woods than trying to find someone to take the chemicals out of it.Even paint cans can't be tossed unless the paint is removed or dried.Doing a small construction job can present a problem for getting rid of the old bricks or boards.We've become a nation of conveniences. We no longer park a block from a store to do our shopping. We have convenient parking lots at malls. In fact, for many people a lot of shopping is done in the comfort of homes at a computer.If it's so easy to get products without being inconvenienced, some people are probably - and wrongly - take the short cuts for disposing them.We realize it's difficult for police to catch illegal dumpers, but we'd love to see more names in police logs for arrests of these slobs.Also, maybe cutting back on some of the disposal regulations might curb the dumping problem.For the most part, though, the key is to be aware of the environment and do our part to keep it clean and safe.Earth Day should be special. But the merits of it shouldn't be confined to just one day.By RON GOWERrgower@tnonline.com