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Show WASATCH MOUNTAIN TIMES ‘Crenlereleaseon” KERRY SHE HAYS-WALZER THINKS AND AcTS GLOBALLY -LOCALLYKerry Hays-Walzer in Park City osc That sums up what Karri HaysWalzer thinks people have to do about their attitude toward the earth. But the 33-year-old mother of three is not sitting around, waiting for change to happen — she spearheaded Park City’s first Earth Day celebration six years ago and went on to help organize Park City’s recycling center. In addition, her efforts won her $1,000, which she donated to the Park City Library in the way of environmental books and videos. “T used to call myself an environmentalist,” she says with a note of irony, referring to George Bush and others with trophy heads mounted on their walls, who also call themselves environmentalists. “Now, I just call myself a human being someone who thinks something has to be done.” Not only does Karri think this capitalist-based society must change its outlook to put more emphasis on protecting the earth, she also strikes at the very underpinning of capitalism — competition. It was the element of competition that finally drove this former ski racer from the World Cup and Pro circuits. “The element of competition is very destructive,” she said. “To have a girl be your friend in the evening and then growl at you the next morning in the starting gate was really hard on me.” Karri fears that youngsters who are continuously exposed to comaway with a petition come Machiavellian attitude toward many aspects of their lives. An attitude that does little to bind together communities or protect the environment, she says. This former ski racer takes her kids to the Montessori School, where they won’t be subjected to standard grading systems. ‘IT think to compete against yourself is good. But when one person wins and everyone else loses, it’s no fun.” Interestingly, it was the birth of her children that drove Karri to become an activist. “Tt all started when I had my first child. I wanted to get a diaper service in Park City, because | didn’t want to use disposable diapers,” she said referring to the tremendous amount of garbage that results from disposables. “I didn’t think a child should inflict that much waste upon the planet.” But soon, she began to see the environment through the eyes of her children, Karri explained. That innocence led her to see, even more sharply, the fragility of the environment. “When I take my kids out into the Uinta’s and they ask me, “What is that tree doing there?” they really bring the beauty of the world to my attention..We really have to take care of it.” Only through education, Karri insists, will we see more clearly the need to protect nature, rather than destroy it. “Children are still connected to the other side. My children teach me, they have brought it to my attention, in some way, that we can’t keep doing things the way we have been doing them.” That, as much as anything, she says, was the impetus for organizing Park City’s Earth Day. “T think Earth Day is more than a bunch of environmental activists it should be a day to pay respect to the earth,” she are trying . Earth to Day ruin the Architecture ¢ Custom Residential ¢ Commercial e Institutional Landscape Architecture ¢ Custom Residential Design e Drought Tolerant Design Environmental Planning e Large and Small Site Design ¢ Project Master Planning PAG economy is a chance to edu- cate people.” And that is really the essence of Karri’s goal. Her new plan is to develop an Environmental Education Center in Park City. The center, she explained, would function as an umbrella organization for numerous groups and companies that are environmentally aware. Among other things, the center would give out information and provide seminars for architects and builders, in an effort to make housing more efficient and development less obtrusive on the environment. @ =<4 QZ Phone: p= said. It is also a chance to show and teach others that environmentalists are not crazy people. “Some have this idea that environmentalists are these radical, crazy people, who 649-2047 § |
