Conserving the environment can be easy

“Summertime…and the living is easy…”

lyrics by Ira Gershwin and DuBose Heyward

Another song from this musical comes to mind as I write and causes me to smile, “It Ain’t Necessarily So.” The fullness of summertime — with both ease and hardship — is upon us. Big surf, heavy traffic, muggy heat and a certain slowness that seems fostered by all of these fill the days and nights in our small town.

Cerulean blue sky pokes through morning gray. Golden light dances on waves in sparkling splendor at midday. Night finds deep midnight blue luxuriating in the light of the moon. Black crows’ raucous voices are raised from dawn to dusk and, white-wings still, gray mockingbirds sing way into the night.

Color is everywhere. Nature abounds with it. The three festivals celebrate it. Streets are filled with bright-colored summer frocks and swimsuits of myriad colors frolic or loll on our beaches.

And Green Day is coming to the Sawdust Art Festival, too. This celebration of ways we can recycle resources will be in the eucalyptus grove that houses this summer festival from noon to 5 p.m. Aug. 8.

This special day dedicated to recycling is close to both my heart and that of my booth partner, Suzette. We long have incorporated bits of flotsam and jetsam into our art work and teach our students to do the same. Upcycling — the practice of taking a thing that is generally believed to be disposable and turning it into something of greater use and value — is very important as a part of our work. So Green Day is very special to us.

In keeping with the Sawdust Art Festival’s dedication to educating the public and promoting art created in Laguna Beach, Green Day will be filled with a variety of interactive and educational activities. Art and craft projects for young and old alike, presentations, and displays will be scattered throughout the grounds. Artists whose work incorporates recycled materials will be featured. There will be something for everyone.

While summertime living is a time filled with ease, it never hurts to remind ourselves about things like recycling, about becoming responsible members of the greater community of this planet. The Sawdust Art Festival is committed to green initiatives and, while still having a long way to go, the first steps have been taken. Green Day is an opportunity to learn and to celebrate.

Please join the Sawdust Art Festival and the Wyland Foundation, in collaboration with other local community members to celebrate and educate moves toward “green.” Look for the various artists whose talents are turned always to upcycling and responsible use of materials. You may be surprised.

Beyond mere recycling, many of us strive to turn trash into art, whether whimsical or in more serious terms. Once your vision is adjusted to this new way of seeing things every bit of wire, every computer fragment, every product’s container, every scrap has potential.

We must use less, conserve and protect. Come to Green Day for some creative play while we’re doing these things. Living green, like summertime, can be easy.

CHERRIL DOTY is an award-winning writer and artist, creative coach, and teacher. She can be reached at (714)745-9973 or cherril@cherrildoty.com and summers at the Sawdust Art Festival, Booth #427/428