Earth's degradation

 (This message was edited by amberose on 02-04-03 @ 3:28 pm EST)

 (This message was edited by amberose on 01-30-03 @ 3:45 pm EST)

 (This message was edited by amberose on 01-30-03 @ 10:33 am EST)

It is hard.
Last year I was sitting by the bay, breathing in the pseudo-sea air and relaxing, when in the distance I saw something heading towards me. I happen to love seeing wildlife of any kind and was extremely excited at the approach of the animal. As it came closer, my excitement intensified, as I decided that it must be a turtle, one of my favorite animals. I sat there and waited expectantly until the creature came into clear view. It was an aluminum can.
Angrily, I pulled it out of the water. I looked around me, and all I saw was trash. I began gathering it all. Mostly plastic. After hours and bags of trash, there was still more. I felt like crying. I couldn't even clean this one area and, compared to the entire world, my work wasn't even significant. Discouraged, I sat down.
As I was sitting there, I remembered an event from my childhood. When we were young, my best friend stepped on a piece of glass from a beer bottle while we were playing tag (he lived in a hotel on the beach that had a bar). His foot bled profusely and became infected. I remember being really angry at everyone. If one idiot had just picked up that one piece of glass out of all the pieces there, just that one, my friend would not have cut his foot. I realized that even if all of my efforts only spared one turtle from feeling the pain of a stomach inflated by a plastic bag mistaken for a jellyfish,or one fish from getting caught and dying in the plastic rings from soda cans, or one dolphin from having its nose entangled in a mass of nearly invisible fishing line, even if only one creature was spared pain, my time was not wasted. I truly believe this, and whenever I get discouraged, I remember.
So, even if I cannot save the world, cannot eliminate pollution, cannot stop cruelty to animals, I am going to try and make as much of a difference as I can. I do believe, at the risk of being cliche, that everyone can make a difference. Everyone gets discouraged and feels helpless and useless at times, but, to me, the important thing is to keep trying and keep doing things that are important to you.
If anyone is interested in getting involved in helping the earth, feel free to email me and I will try and help you find something you can do from wherever you live.