Think Earth

Earth is on everybody’s mind these days, and today, Earth Day, is no longer just a fringe event celebrated by tree huggers and whale savers. Environmentalism is the in thing, and that’s a good thing, because Earth needs all the help—and even the hype—it can get.

Global warming, carbon dioxide emissions, rising ocean levels, and land degradation may be distant concepts and may not really be so shocking to us who have been living with sweltering summers, polluted air and garbage dumps all our lives, but these broad concepts have very real effects that touch us in our everyday lives, like extra-strong typhoons and floods, and even a summer sun hotter than it used to be.

As in all things that cover such a broad scope, we may feel utterly helpless and think that the problem is simply too big for us. The problem is big, but there is much we can do. We can be responsible consumers and not waste—food, water, energy. We can recycle and re-use—paper, plastic (do not double package), bottles—instead of throwing everything away. If we no longer have use for things, consider the many waste markets around (our Sunday to Sunday section has listings). And please think before you throw: that sandwich or candy wrapper you carelessly toss on the sidewalk will probably end up in the gutter and clog the drain, causing floods when the rains come, or end up floating on the river or estero.

"Live deliberately," Thoreau wrote in Walden Pond (a very good read for our times), and that means minding and being conscious of everything you do, remembering that each act has consequences, immediate as well as far-reaching. For all our collective actions for the past century we are now facing dire consequences and paying a steep price for our profligacy. Let our actions from today on lead to positive consequences for our Earth, our home.