It was the 112th day of the year.
It was Discovery Day in Brazil.
It was the Pennsylvania Primary.
Oh yeah, it was Earth Day, but most folks didn't notice.
It is also the birthday of one of life's easy riders, Jack Nicholson. What a character of life he is. It was his character (Colonel Nathan Jessep) in the 1992 film "A Few Good Men" that uttered the now infamous line...."You can't handle the truth."
I find this line quite fitting for today's society. The truth is hard to swallow. Global Warming, filthy, smelly, awful-tasting drinking water, cigarette butt litter, sewage in our recreational waterways, not just over development but senseless development, cigarette butt litter, the domestication of white-tailed deer, squirrels, and other critters due to loss of habitat, cigarette butt litter, more reality TV shows, a plastic continent-sized island in the Pacific (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89099470), cigarette butt litter, education cuts, resource exploitation, cigarette butt litter, etc. etc. etc.
Oh excuse me, I was on my cell phone in my SUV drinking from a plastic bottle driving 1/2 mile to buy the lastest US Weekly to find out about American Idol....what's the problem with the earth?
Is it that people just don't get it? Or is it that people choose not to believe the truth of the plight of the our planet. Or is it that they simply can't handle the truth.
I recently heard that somewhere over 20 million people watch American Idol. Now imagine if that many people turned their TV off for the 1 hour a week. That's a lot of energy saved. Now imagine if each of those people picked up one piece of trash in their neighborhood (while walking and conversing face to face with their neighbors). Imagine if each carried a canvas bag to the store.
So, here it is, my pact with tierra de madre:
- Consume less. I will only buy from reputable companies that are seriously working towards helping the earth, not just "green marketing" to make a buck. CHECK out the links below to an interview with YC of Patagonia (some nice, honest thoughts are discussed). I am planning to have several days of the week where I simply make them "no-purchase" days.
- Cease the use of disposable plastic beverages. If I must purchase a beverage, I'll buy glass. My Klean Kanteen shall become a fixture on my eco-utility belt. Here's a link about the ugly of plastic (to include Nalgene). http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/04/bpa-in-water.php
- Get in the saddle as much as possible. I will work on the concept of bike-body meld. My kid's bike trailer will make a great grocery/errand cart.
- Motivate, instigate, activate. Ghandi said "You must be the change you want to see in the world."
Here's the link to the interview with Patagonia's Yvon Chouinard. (There are two parts, be sure to read both.)
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/02/the_th_interview_yvon_chouinard.php
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/02/the_th_interview_yvon_chouinard_2.phplook, listen, feel,
ostrich
1 comments:
Crazy! I was just pondering something like this while down in CR last week. I was thinking of not buying a single thing that A: I didn't really really need, and B: it had to be made using an earth conscious method and local. I realized I was essentially considering boycotting China..... In CR I didn't purchase any thing that wasn't made by them. And there were a lot of things where I was like "oooh, I want that!" Then looked at the tag and said "Don't need it." We came back with a significant amount of coffee, (couldn't help myself) a couple of handmade blankets, and 1400 pictures.
And now I'm going to work to encorporate that into life here. If it ain't broke, I don't need another one.
The real truth is it's going to take a lot of effort and thought, which is the "truth" I think most people can't handle. They'll be required to change.
I'm going to have to re-train my brain, but I think it's well worth it. Thanks for the words Ostrich, it inspired me to say out loud what I've been mulling over in my head.
Peace out dude.
Ari
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