Happy Earth Day 2003. A couple of years ago (more like 5 to 10) Earth Day was on the lips of everyone. Recycling was the new big thing. We started realizing that humans were destroying the environment and that something needed to be done about it. We started taking steps in the right direction. We had high hopes and big ideas on how we could make the world a better place. Now almost a decade later I find out about Earth Day because of Google’s “Earth Day” logo. I remember hearing about Earth Day on the news once but that was about 2 weeks ago. It is doubtful that many people actually know that it is Earth Day today.
At the present the amount of effort being put into fixing the environment is seriously lacking. Sure the public still recycles but it’s no longer a new idea and some people are too lazy and can’t be bothered to do it. Even world leaders have stopped caring. George W. has pulled out of so many environmental protection initiatives (specifically the Kyoto Protocol). This is also the man who wanted to drill for oil on an Alaskan wildlife preserve. One of these days we are going to wake up and realize that we did nothing for too long.
I’ve long had a theory. By doing all of these things to the environment we aren’t harming the Earth we are harming ourselves. In the short-term we may be causing temporary damage to the Earth but in the long-term she will be okay. Once we have caused so much damage that the human race can no longer strive on her our race will cease to exist. After that happens the Earth will have time to heal and recover. Humans have only existed for a cosmic blink of the eye – the Earth has been around for much longer than that. We are like a flea on a dog, we reproduce and infest it but once the environment becomes inhospitable (flea powder) the dog recovers. I really hope this scenario doesn’t come to pass. I hope we decide to take up the challenge to make the world a better place. Here are some suggestions of things you can do for Earth Day and the rest of the year.