How Can I Rest In Bed While the Earth Goes to Hell ?

The Dali Lama was talking to a group of college kids, answering questions. Somebody asked him about global warming. Here’s what he said:

“The environment should be of concern to everybody on a daily basis.

My personal contribution: shower, not bath.”

That got a laugh. He went on to say,

“Scientists look to the Moon, to Space, for planets like Earth,

but colonies on the Moon or Mars without the Earth: impossible!”

And he chuckled at our folly.

The point is we can’t run away from the mess we’ve made & anything you do to improve the situation is better than nothing!


What brought this on? OK, if you’ve been reading my posts, you know I’m trying to recover from having my equator opened up, a few interlopers evicted, & watching the amazing scar topography develop below my navel. A tedious prospect, but I’m trying to use the time wisely; resting in bed, playing guitar, thinking, (remember thinking?) watching back episodes of “Bones”- my favorite TV show. I’ve also used this downtime to read 2 years of back issues of Discover Magazine. Result?

I am deeply troubled by the condition of our planet!

You should be too. Here’s why:

• 
  
  Did you know that there are four islands in the oceans that are made up entirely of plastic garbage? The largest, known as the Pacific Gyre, is as big as the state of Texas and goes at least 100 ft deep!


• 
  
  Did you know that irresponsible fishing has depleted entire nations of fish in the oceans?


• 
  
  Did you know that we are now eating fish that was once thought only fit for cat food?! The most plentiful life in the ocean is Jellyfish. How ‘bout a nice jelly-fish taco? Didn’t think so.


• 
  
  Did you know that every creature living in the ocean today has plastic in its system?!


• 
  
  How about the fact that where there used to be huge fields of oysters, near the Chesapeake Bay, there is now nothing? We have fished & poisoned what was a giant, ancient community into oblivion; it is a dead zone.


• 
  
  There is also a dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico where pollution from the Mississippi River has killed everything. Agricultural poisons kill more than bugs, my friends. And now they’re talking about bringing back DDT.

This is just the stuff that’s going wrong with our water. Our Earth is mostly water, our bodies are mostly water, nuthin can live without clean water. You may or may not “believe” in global warming, but do you really want to help kill your planet?

OK, now what do we do about it? Think globally, act locally. A pretty slogan, but one you can live with. Do what you can about your own home, (buy energy efficient appliances, replace your windows, use those swirly light bulbs) neighborhood, (pick up trash, especially plastic bags that get into waterways thru our sewers) city, (be a friend to your parks) state, (encourage your state to invest in sustainable energy, new infrastructure, vote green) & write your representatives. You voted, now tell them what you want them to do, they can’t read your mind! Here are some handy links to get you going.

www.house.gov/writerep find your Congressperson
www.senate.gov find your Senator
www.usa.gov find out how your govt. can help you!

Here’s what I do:

• Recycle all paper, plastic & aluminum, (thanks, Mayor Daley!)
• drive a Toyota Echo (40mpg) Don’t be hatin’ Toyota, remember the Pinto?
• don’t litter
• turn off tap, lights, computer, TV when I’m finished using them
• ask the people I buy from to use non-plastic containers
• take my bags back to the store, reuse or recycle
• shop local so I can walk to my errands & get exercise at the same time!
• Support others efforts to preserve lakes, parks, trees help our air, plant & tend!
• I write my reps every week, let em know I vote, pay taxes & expect results
• Pray for my president & my planet.

We, in the United States, like to think of ourselves as the best in the World, but we’re the ones dragging our feet when it comes to climate change and averting the end of our species. This is not a matter for American politics. We don’t have time to argue about it we’re close to Fracked on this one. Even China is ahead of us! They ride bikes, exercise together every day, they practice population control. We’re a couple hundred years old, they’re 5000. Maybe they know something? We could learn from other countries if we weren’t so busy being afraid of them.

I’m still hopeful & I know I’m not alone. Write & tell me what you do to reverse the trend. It’s time for Spring Cleaning, let’s clean up our Planet & live to talk about it. Peace.