Celebrate Earth Day 2020

Earth Dec. 7, 1972, by the crew of Apollo 17 (NASA)

Wednesday, April 22 is the 50th annual celebration of Earth Day! Earth Day is a global day to recognize and support the importance of environmental protection proposed by UNESCO and popularized in the United States by Wisconsin's Gaylord Nelson.

One great way to celebrate, while maintaining appropriate social distancing, is to go for a hike on one of the excellent trails throughout the Dubuque area. Be sure to take the time to check the weather before you hike so you don't get caught in a spring shower! It's also a good idea to check with the appropriate parks agency to see if they have any guidance or restrictions at this time.

• City of Dubuque trails and maps
• City of Dubuque parks
• Dubuque County parks and maps
• State of Iowa parks

If the weather isn't cooperating, or you'd rather celebrate from the comfort of your own couch, you might enjoy using your Dubuque resident Carnegie-Stout Public Library card to watch an Earth Day related documentary on Kanopy. We've gathered together a short list of suggested titles below.

The Island President: Politics in the Maldives

(2011, 102 minutes) Nasheed, who brought democracy to the Maldives after decades of despotic rule, now faces an even greater challenge: as one of the most low-lying countries in the world, a rise of three feet in sea level would submerge the 1200 islands of the Maldives and make them uninhabitable.

Trashed with Jeremy Irons

(2012, 94 minutes) Jeremy Irons sets out to discover the extent and effects of the global waste problem, as he travels around the world to beautiful destinations tainted by pollution.

Plastic China - The Lives of Recycling Plant Workers in China

(2016, 83 minutes) This film documents a plastic recycling facility in a small town dedicated to the business of processing plastic waste and examines global consumption and culture through the eyes and hands of those who handle its refuse.

My Life as a Turkey

(2011, 53 minutes) PBS Nature tells one man's remarkable experience of raising a group of wild turkey hatchlings to adulthood. After a local farmer left a bowl of eggs on Joe Hutto's front porch, his life was forever changed. Hutto, possessing a broad background in the natural sciences and an interest in imprinting young animals, incubated the eggs and waited for them to hatch. 

Ken Burns: The National Parks - America’s Best Idea

(2009, 697 minutes) This 12-hour, six-part documentary series by Ken Burns and Dayton Duncan tells the story of an idea as uniquely American as the Declaration of Independence and just as radical: that the most special places in the nation should be preserved, not for royalty or the rich, but for everyone.

Staff Review: Smoke Gets in Your Eyes & Other Lessons from the Crematory by Caitlin Doughty

I was browsing YouTube a few weeks ago, as one does, and I stumbled upon a channel called Ask a Mortician. There were video titles like "American Mummies" and "ICONIC CORPSE: The Preservation of Eva Peron." I fell down the rabbit hole of videos, hosted by a woman who looks like someone I would be friends with. Caitlin Doughty, with her Bettie Page bangs and bold lipstick, doesn't look like the stereotypical mortician. However, she is the face of the alternative death industry. Her memoir, Smoke Gets in Your Eyes & Other Lessons from the Crematory, reveals how she got started in the industry and what she learned along the way.

This was a fascinating read. I definitely learned a lot about the death industry, and it made me confront my own mortality in a good way. This book and Caitlin's YouTube channel challenge you to think about your own after-death wishes and tell you about more than the American standard of embalming and being buried in a box. I recommend this to anyone who is interested in death or the death industry, anyone who watched Six Feet Under, and anyone who likes witty creative non-fiction essays. Fans of Mary Roach will particularly enjoy this.

Be sure to check out Ask a Mortician and Caitlin's website. Her new book, From Here to Eternity, was just released and I can't wait to read more.

-Libby, Youth Services

#ComicsWednesday: Earth Before Us: Dinosaur Empire! by Abby Howard

Abby Howard has been one of my favorite web-comic artists for a long time. I discovered her on tumblr where she publishes short autobiographical comics. (Warning: some of her autobiographical comics are definitely for mature audiences.) From there I fell in love with her ongoing web comic Junior Scientist Power Hour. When I saw that she was releasing a science comic about dinosaurs for kids, I was psyched!

Earth Before Us: Dinosaur Empire! is delightful. Howard frames the information with a narrative about Ronnie, a little girl who flunked her dinosaur quiz at school. Ronnie needs to learn everything about dinosaurs so she can get 100% when she retakes the quiz - TOMORROW MORNING?! Luckily for Ronnie, her weird neighbor Ms. Lernin (recognizable to Howard's fans as herself) used to be a paleontologist. They travel back in time in Ms. Lernin's magical recycling bin through the power of SCIENCE MAGIC to learn everything there is to know about dinosaurs and other prehistoric life.

This is very much in the vein of the Magic School Bus, but Howard's humor is dry in a way that older kids and parents will appreciate. Fans of dinosaurs, funny comics, and learning will love this graphic novel. You can find it in the kids graphic novel section here at the library.

- Libby, Youth Services