Environment

Simple things we can do that truly go the extra mile!

So what can we do?  What's amazing is that it is the little things!

I recently read an article in Glamour that had a large section on things that we can do to make a difference and help the Earth.  Some of the items that I am listing are from those articles.  There are so many small things that we can do, that barely impact our daily schedules, which make a huge impact on the world.  Some of these are so simple that it is even funny that we haven't been doing them already. 

So, without further ado, a list of small actions that make a big impact:

1.  Re-use your plastic bags, or, even better, when grocery shopping, use a canvas bag (If you live close to your supermarket, make it a double good deed and walk or ride a bike).

2.  Print on both sides of the paper or use the blank side for scrap paper when you are through with it.

3.  Unplug electrical items that are not in use, you are paying for that electricity!  Turns out, they are still using energy while only plugged in, even if the appliance is off (if you touched the tip of your cell phone charger when it is plugged into the wall, you will still feel the electricity flowing?)!

4. When you need to buy new light bulbs, buy the energy saving ones, Compact Fluorescent light bulbs, CFL).  They cost a bit more than regular light bulbs, but run circles around regular light bulbs in lifespan! (The "warm white" bulbs give off the same amount of light as regular bulbs.)

5. Recycle!  In many places they come to your door, and if not, then they are close to our homes.  Many of our companies already recycle, and for those that don't get them to!  Recycling is so easy and the difference that it makes to the environment is stupendous!

This list is simple, and in some cases even saves us money?we have every reason to help, and no reason not to!  Let's all pitch in to make a difference!

The impact on the Environment will be much greater than terrorism could ever be, so why don't we care?

So they are saying that the environmental issue, and impact, is becoming a lot worse than the terrorism issue.  I know that it is true.  I used to lie in bed at night and think about the impact that terror can and does have on us, whether in our everyday actions, or as a direct impact.  As one who has spent her life learning and understanding terrorism and counter- terrorism, I have a general understanding of how scary it really is - but now, my bedtime thoughts have changed to our future based on the lack of understanding, or simply caring enough about the World, and our lack of action surrounding fixing it.

I have never been an environmental freak.  I always cared, but it was more of just trying to help a bit here and there.  My opinions have rapidly changed in the past few months.  My turning point?  Watching the news one night, and seeing an emerging story on the rapid melting of our polar ice caps (within 40-50 years, they said), as one of the last stories that they covered that night.  By airing it at the end of the news program, they showed the lack of importance of the issue.  It should have been one of the top stories, as we will all be directly affected by it in the not so distant future.  I was seething, but my husband, and everybody else I spoke to, didn't seem to really be bothered.

Now, recent multi-national cooperation in researching the effects of global warming have come out, basically saying we, as humans, are responsible for the vast majority of global warming.  Yet still, we are having a difficult time accepting it into our collective consciousness. 

Terrorism is scary, it is an international problem affecting every continent except Antarctica, and it affects us because it is happening to us now.  But the vast effects of our environmental destruction, which are only beginning to appear, in every way supersedes the effects that terror can ever have on us. This, coming from one who has directly experienced terrorism, should not be taking lightly.   

I volunteered in a zoo for the past week, and learned a ton.  I used to dislike the idea of zoos, I saw them as the places that they used to be, where they would just cage up animals for exhibition.  Over the past few years that opinion of mine has evolved, as I learned how much zoos are involved in helping raise the numbers of endangered species through breeding programs and a variety of other zoo sponsored programs.

Zoos have become one of the last hopes for many animals.  Although I hate the idea of caging an animal, sometimes it is the only way to help its species.

Along with all I learned while working at the zoo, I learned a lot about people.  I am sad to say, I did not like much of what I saw.  One of the main ways for zoos to generate an income is through its visitor sales; unfortunately it comes with the side effects of, well, people.

People were extremely disrespectful to the animals in many ways.  One man threw small sticks at a sleeping animal in order to get it to move and to see its face; his reasoning was that he paid a lot of money to get in so he should be able to see the animal.  People endlessly threw things, tapped on glass and shouted to get the poor animals attention.

Then there were the food throwers.  These are the ones who believed that feeding the animals was ok, even though there were signs EVERYWHERE asking not to feed the animals.  People threw everything from chips to fruits to cigarettes.  They have no idea how much of a negative impact this can have on the animals health.  Zoo animals have died in the past from visitors feeding them.

So I've come to my point.  I think we need to go to zoos, or support them, but we must do it respectfully.  Most of the animals in the zoos are there as a direct consequence of our exploitations as humans, the zoos are trying to help the animals, but we must also help by respecting the animals enough to appreciate them rather than continue to harm them!