I have been in my head ever since last night, watching "An Inconvenient Truth". Mr. Gore is quite the speaker. He was able to present a huge amount of scientific data and it all made sense.
The point is this: The planet is in trouble. And we caused it. And we can fix it.
Geoff and I saw "Children of Men" today, and my mind was half on the movie, half on a conversation we had on the way. We would like to have maybe one more child, but alot of things have to happen before that decision is made.
When I was 8 months pregnant with Isabelle, 9/11 happened. I spent the day crying, holding my swollen belly, scared out of my wits that we were bringing a child into a world where a massacre like that could happen. It took quite a long time for us to come to terms with that day, and when we did, we chose Isabelle's middle name: HOPE.
I could go on and on about the current administration, but we all know what's going on. It is focusing on smashing the Middle East into oblivion instead of looking at this fragile planet and really seeing what is happening and what is about to happen.
Mr. Gore said something that was just right...I am paraphrasing here, but here's the jist:
When it comes to human nature, there are the extremes, Turning a blind eye and despair. But there is something between those two extremes...HOPE.
We are able to turn the tide. We can do things to heal this beautiful one-of-a-kind world. It's time NOW to stop "almost" doing things, and start to actually do them.
A good place to start is this link. Concrete, positive things that everyone can do to help. I have felt in the past that any small thing I do on our property, any choice I make won't make a bit of difference. But I was wrong.
The time for words is over. It's time to get off our butts and conquer this beast we gave birth to. We are all in this together, and if this blog does nothing except change ONE person's path toward the future we need, then that's fine with me.
Most of the people who read Susan Gets Native are at least marginally interested in the environment. They find beauty in a warm new bird's egg, or a magnificient sunset, or a patch of fungus on a fallen tree. I'm not so delusioned to think that I reach a large amount of people (We have Julie for that) but I know at least a few people stop by occasionally.
I am not going to turn into a preacher or anything, but my mind and attitude has been changed and I hope to take a few people with me.
4 comments:
Susan, this subject truly is something to be passionate about. The majority of Americans are so passive...and I don't like to admit that I find myself fall into that category too often. I see and hear things that fire me up with good intentions but do I follow up? A month or two ago I saw Al Gore present AIT on the Oprah show and he blew me away (I didn't know how intelligent he really is). I haven't seen the DVD yet, but I plan to see it soon. It's something Michael and I will enjoy watching together. Thanks for the wake-up call.
Susan! I woke up this morning to the radio news and they said the president wanted to send *more* freakin' troops overseas and in the past the republican congress gave him a blank check. . . but now the democrats are saying NOOOOOOO!!!! Yay!!! That's a start. Ever since I lost a job that I loved and worked hard at because of 9/11 I've been pissed off that the president has NOT paid more attention to this country and the environment and instead sends all of our resources overseas.
That said, I've been doing my small part, as you can probably surmise by my blog, to not destroy this planet any further. I have a natural, organic yard, I use 7th generation products, Ecover products, organic products, eat organic food, don't eat meat so I'm not contributing to the quick draining of the acquifer, etc. etc.
Thanks for letting me vent on *your* blog! But I'm with you girlfriend all the way - to help make this planet better for your little girls, and all of the children, so they can still "love the bewds" when they grow up!
Susan -- you had me thinking all night last night. And, that ended up with my getting only 5 hours of sleep so {grump} but you had me thinking. I have not yet seen An Inconvenient Truth but I just pushed it up to the top of my NetFlix list so we'll get it shortly.
I also need to find some other ways to decrease our footprint on this planet. My husband have good intentions and big plans but for the BIG things, cost is an issue (putting in solar, doing geothermal heat, etc.) but I think there are little things we can do on a daily basis to make our world a better place. Let's start sharing some of our green ideas, shall we?
I want to start buying meats and produce from our local Natural Foods store instead of the grocery store. Just as a start. Maybe that will partially offset my goal to start shopping at Costco once a month for the "essentials". Maybe.
Oh, and your description of 9/11 for you was so compelling. Wow! I know we all have a 9/11 story but yours was particularly gripping!
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