
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, July 16, 1990                   TAG: 9007160196
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

DISILLUSIONED WITH ENVIRONMENTALISM

LONG BEFORE the 20th anniversary of Earth Day brought environmental awareness back into fashion, I was saving up newspapers, cans, glass and plastics for recycling. I was so happy when I first saw other people acknowledging the horrible condition of our planet and finally trying to do something about it, I almost cried.

But now recycling has lost its use to the large corporations. Unemptied "recycling centers" are piling up until they resemble garbage dumps in the middle of our shopping centers. It once was good public relations to care for the planet; now I guess it is just a leftover pain the corporations will find an excuse to do away with.

On the other side of the coin are the fanatic ecologists and "rights" organizations. They have sworn to "die for a tree," or kill, maim, and sabotage anyone or anything not following their views. Many of these groups were labeled terrorists by the FBI for attacking hunters, loggers and property owners, or poisoning animals, burning down buildings and destroying land and people's livelihoods for their misdirected causes.

I would have never believed a year ago I would actually be embarrassed to be called an environmentalist. Thanks to the insincere corporations and overzealous Earth/hippie groups left over from Earth Day, ecology has now become a dirty word. In fact, just being associated with caring for the planet in any way has become such a liability, I don't even bother collecting newspapers any more.

\ JOSEPH MARKS\ ROANOKE

by CNB