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Politics : The Environmentalist Thread -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Raymond Duray who wrote (3405)	5/2/2004 6:55:54 PM
From: Crocodile	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 36917

That precludes having any of the present government in Washington remaining in power. While I don't disagree -- certainly there is much for the U.S. and many other governments of the world to answer for -- I believe that the problems which we are faced with are now so great that they are like a genie unleashed from its bottle. All of us have such a long way to go in turning around our thinking and reducing our wants to some sustainable level... and that is not going to be an easy sell. For example, I am continuously appalled at how people place an absurd emphasis on such things as a manicured lawn, bought and paid for at the expense of soil microbes, insects, birds, and frogs which suffer greatly both from loss of natural cover and habitat, and from dousing with herbicides and pesticides. Add to that, the exhaust from lawn mowers. Multiply this by million upon million households that won't give up their damned herbicides and fertilizers... ugh... and this is just one example. I can think of dozens. At the moment, ATVs are right up there at the top of my Personal Grrrrhhhh List. However, I do find that many people are learning and slowly changing. On another thread, I mentioned what seems to be an amazing increase in the number of people in my own area who purchased tree seedlings from our local forestry center this spring. I haven't seen this kind of interest in tree planting --- and of all species including nut trees, native wild berry bushes, etc.. since the 1970s. I think there is a change happening.. at least up in this area. It may be the beginning of a serious movement. I am encouraged by the incredible growth in the Recycle movement using online boards to offer and find free materials and goods rather than having these things landfilled. An online recycle group just started in my own area a month ago and its membership is growing by leaps and the amount of material being recycled is incredible. Up here, the used clothing stores run by charities are doing a huge trade. And the interest in organic foods is growing. Also, in Canada, the interest in volunteer wildlife monitoring is growing at a very fast pace. Last year, we barely had a handful of people coming out to help with stream survey work.. This week, we just had our first volunteer training session and had a 3x increase in the number of volunteers. Much as I have times when I feel dismayed at how it seems that it is all too little too late when it comes to the environment, I try not to let those feelings get in the way of the good things that I am starting to see happening all around me. I think that, in many ways, it is time for all of us to ignore the politicians and the governments as much as possible, and to start working from our own end, where we can actually be most effective. Time for all of us to vote with our pocketbooks. We need to stop buying pesticides and strong chemical house-cleaning products. Recycle whenever we can. Cut our energy uses when possible. I say, start starving out the chemical corporations from the bottom up. If we weren't such willing suckers, these guys wouldn't be able to flog their snake oil the way they do. Yes, I know.. it's simplistic, but that's the beauty of it. It's a simple way for us to empower ourselves and cut these guys off at the knees while doing so.