Of course, for it to create effective change, Earth Day needs to be a way of life, not a brief celebration once a year. Likewise, the MLWA remains vigilant in its mission to protect the watershed always, but we need the help of the entire community to be effective.

Earth Day began as an environmental “teach-in” on college and school campuses 54 years ago and has evolved into today’s movement of a billion people in over 190 countries around the globe. Each year there is an official theme for Earth Day, and in 2023 the theme was “Invest In Our Planet.” This year, the theme was “The Planet vs. Plastics.” Both of these themes are central to the concerns of the MLWA.

Here in the the town of North Elba, our community celebrates Earth Day and the arrival of something sort of spring-like with a village cleanup day. The snow has melted, hopefully for the last time, revealing evidence of one of the environmentally most disappointing traits of human behavior, litter. Litter everywhere. All winter long, litter is camouflaged by snowfall, revealed by a thaw, and then camouflaged again. Spring cleanup makes such a difference but never lasts long enough.

Who does this? People who don’t appreciate how lucky they are to live in such a beautiful place? Tourists who come to enjoy a scenic spot and don’t care to leave it that way for others? It’s both, for sure, because the litter is visible on back roads most likely not enjoyed by many from out-of-town, but then there is the obvious increase in roadside debris after large sporting events and even after being inundated with eclipse viewers. Really? People, awed by nature, come to this scenic location to appreciate a truly awesome event and then throw trash out their car windows? It’s mind-boggling.

A lot of that trash is plastic and may not get picked up by well-meaning citizens before it is buried by soil or plant life or blown into our streams, rivers, and lakes. This matters, as explained on the earthday.org website, because, “As plastics break down into microplastics, they release toxic chemicals into our food and water sources and circulate through the air we breathe. Each year, the average American ingests more than 70,000 microplastics in their drinking water supply. These plastics originate from multiple sources but are mostly linked to littering, stormwater runoff, and poor wastewater management in treatment facilities.”

The easiest way for anyone to do their part for the environment is to not litter. For those who cannot imagine littering, there is also a way to help: carry work gloves, a litter bag, and an antiseptic hand cleaner in your car. Then, when feasible, collect that aggravating piece of litter, and keep it out of our air, soil, and waterways.

As for the 2023 “Invest In Our Planet” theme, it would be wise, and even self-serving, for our local governing bodies and tourist organizations to invest in regular litter pick-up. As increased tourism brings increased revenues, increased expenditure of those dollars into keeping our community attractive and free of degrading microplastics would be money well spent.

This is not a new concern for our town and those who care for the Mirror Lake watershed. In case you missed it, in the “History Is Cool” column of the April 19 issue of the Lake Placid News, there is a quote from a news article 100 years ago about “The matter of unsightly appearance of parts of the western shore of Mirror Lake due to dumping of ashes and refuse …” and “… a great deal of rubbish and refuse being dumped on the shore and in the lake.” It went on to say that “… municipal garbage collection would remedy much of this condition. It was also pointed out that it should be a matter of civic pride to have a more presentable shore front.” Amen.

To learn more about MLWA’s volunteer efforts to protect Mirror Lake and Mill Pond, go to mirrorlake.net, follow us on Instagram or join us for our monthly meetings upstairs at the Mirror Lake Beach House at 5 p.m. on the second Monday of the month.

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(Sandy Bissell is a board member at the Mirror Lake Watershed Association.)