If it weren’t for his or her shared ardour for making a more healthy, extra sustainable atmosphere, Camas residents Glen DeWillie, Randal Friedman and Molly McKay Williams — leaders of the just lately fashioned Camas Earth Day Society — might have by no means even crossed paths.
Once they fashioned the Earth Day group in 2024, DeWillie, an engineer with a background in environmental science and water useful resource administration, was largely involved concerning the poisonous, man-made chemical compounds often known as PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) which were discovered within the metropolis of Camas’ public consuming water provide.
Friedman, who labored on environmental points impacting the U.S. Navy in California earlier than shifting to Camas in 2018, had been advocating for the state to step up necessities for environmental cleanup on the Georgia-Pacific paper mill.
And Williams, now president of the Camas Earth Day Society, was targeted on creating an “outdoor living lab” behind Prune Hill Elementary College, the place fifth-graders might study native vegetation, bugs and nature’s seasonal life cycles.
“Bringing disparate parts of society together is what we are about,” Friedman mentioned of the Camas Earth Day Society.
It doesn’t matter what their environmental trigger, Friedman mentioned, the Camas Earth Day Society has a spot for everybody who desires to do their small half to assist defend the planet.
“We’re hyperaware that all of these things can be overwhelming and people can feel hopeless,” mentioned DeWillie, who labored with the U.S. Military Corps of Engineers for 20 years.
However DeWillie mentioned he’s a “cup half full” sort of man who likes to remain optimistic.
That’s one of many issues DeWillie likes concerning the Camas Earth Day Society — the group’s emphasis on highlighting the constructive adjustments folks could make in their very own neighborhood.
On the group’s web site, guests can get details about the environmental points impacting Camas’ water, air and landscapes and discover examples of the way they could be capable of assistance on an area degree — planting a local tree, for example, or eradicating invasive vegetation that hurt native vegetation, bugs and animals.
“We are supporters of hands-on projects that both create solutions and show examples of what we can do working together,” the Camas Earth Day Society’s web site states.
Homegrown inspiration
The group’s key members, who’ve spearheaded the out of doors residing lab at Prune Hill Elementary, in addition to a pollinator backyard exterior the Camas Public Library, mentioned they’re impressed by Camas native Denis Hayes. He helped arrange the primary Earth Day celebration, which occurred on April 22, 1970, and launched the trendy environmental motion.
“You had all of these groups throughout the country that didn’t know they were connected,” Friedman mentioned. “Earth Day helped bring them together.” Now the Camas Earth Day Society is hoping to convey native folks collectively in the identical manner, however on a a lot smaller scale.
On the Prune Hill out of doors residing lab, for instance, Williams mentioned the Earth Day Society joined with Erin Figy from Frog & Twig, a Camas-area pure habitat gardening and willow-weaving enterprise, and volunteers from the Decrease Columbia Nature Community to create “a thriving backyard habitat that expands (fifth-graders’) natural learning environment beyond the classroom, enabling hands-on learning and growing an ethic of environmental stewardship to take forward into their community.”
Williams, the mom of a Camas center college scholar, additionally helps the Prune Hill college students perceive methods they will use know-how to help of their exploration of the pure world, utilizing the Search by iNaturalist app on their telephones, for instance, to assist establish vegetation and animals.
The Camas Earth Day Society president additionally is understood for her dedication to planting native vegetation and bushes — on the out of doors residing lab, in addition to in her personal yard and all through her neighborhood.
Williams often approaches her neighbors, a lot of whom have a tough time letting go of getting an ideal garden stripped of every thing besides inexperienced grass, and tries to indicate them the great thing about being surrounded by native vegetation, flowers and bushes.
“You have to come with a different eye,” Williams mentioned. “It might be a bit messy, but you can see the beauty … and contributing to the ecosystem is magic. It’s engrossing and exciting.”
Roots of a motion
In April, the Camas Public Library’s Second Story Gallery will host a particular exhibit created in collaboration with the Camas Earth Day Society that explores the origins of the primary Earth Day and its connection, by way of Hayes, to Camas.
The exhibit will probably be open to the general public April 4-28 on the second flooring of the Camas Public Library throughout common library hours. The gallery will host an opening-night reception 5-8 p.m. April 4.
Hayes, 80, who has had a college — Hayes Freedom Excessive College — and a street named for him in Camas, now lives in Seattle and is the president of the Bullitt Basis, a grant-giving group targeted on defending the atmosphere and creating sustainable communities within the Pacific Northwest.
The Camas Earth Day Society and Camas library will discover Hayes’ contributions to the environmental motion throughout the “Living in Denis Hayes’ Legacy” at 6 p.m. April 9 on the library, 625 N.E. Fourth Ave. Hayes will probably be obtainable through Zoom for this occasion to reply questions and speak about his lifelong dedication to being a steward for the atmosphere.
Camas library director Connie Urquhart mentioned she is “thrilled to bring this exhibit to the Camas community.”
“Denis Hayes’ legacy is a testament to the power of local voices creating global change,” she mentioned. “And we hope this exhibit inspires visitors to engage with environmental issues in meaningful ways.”
