When it comes to environmental issues, I've decided I'm more of a talker than a walker. My daughter, Nicole, is graduating a week from today with a bachelor's degree in Environmental Studies. For the past two years, we have been talking about all things environmental, as she is as passionate about this issue as passionate gets.
I have always cared about Our Earth. Just like Woodsy the Owl, I give a hoot and I don't pollute. I know that only I can prevent forest fires. I remember the commercial with the Native American looking at the trash thrown at his feet as a sole tear drop trailed down his weathered face from his wizened eye.
Today, thanks to Wikipedia, I know his name is Iron Eyes Cody, born Espera de Corti of Sicilian parents. He's from Louisiana, he was in over 200 movies, 3 of which were with Ronald Regan, and he was an integral part of the Keep America Beautiful ad campaign in the 1970s, appearing in at least two commercials in which he sheds that tear of impact at the sight of so much litter and pollution.
(If you're up for a blast from the past, here is a link to one of the commercials: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=862cXNfxwmE)
That commercial resonated with me. In 1971, when it aired, I was 7 years old. When the energy crisis hit in 1979, I was a sophomore in high school. We combined trips. We turned out the lights. We made an effort to conserve because the oil in the ground wasn't going to last forever and we'd better start making what was there last as long as we could.
Today, I do make an effort. I recycle as much as possible, I do my best to buy local produce only in season (though I could much better with this--I have a weakness for avacados), I donate the possessions I no longer need, I am very wary of excess packaging, and I try to do little things like eat less meat, buy free-range eggs, and I wash all my clothes in cold water. I still turn out the lights I'm not using, and I've always combined trips to save gas.
But there are still a lot of things I haven't managed to get going. I still haven't changed out all my light bulbs to flourescents, I haven't managed to recycle my glass, and I certainly haven't done anything radical like buy a hybrid car.
But Nicole, she walks the walk. In addition to all the things I've mentioned above, she has become a vegetarian because of all the resources it takes to grow meat (land, water, etc.); she walks, bikes, and rides public transportation as much as possible; she buys her food from the local food co-op; and she works for two organizations in the city whose main goal is to educate people on environmental issues.
I have learned a great deal from Nicole, and I admire how she has changed her life to support her convictions. So, in my effort to be like her and walk more of the walk, I'm going to take a tiny, but sacrificial next step. For, if there's anything I've learned from Nicole, it's that it is the accumulation of tiny sacrifices that will make this whole Green Thing come together. So, here's the deal:
I'm in love with my Target brand Shea Butter Body Wash. It smells wonderful, it lathers up into a spectacular sudsy splendor, and I love the luxourious feeling I get when I slather it all over my body every morning in the shower.
But, it comes in a big honkin' plastic bottle that would take 700 years before it even started to decompose in a landfill and I go through it really fast. I've been justifying the use of it because it comes in a #2 bottle, which I recycle. But really, when compared to soap, that's a lot of packaging.
I'm coming to the end of this bottle, and I don't have another one under the sink. It's time for push to come to shove. It's time to walk the walk.
One bar of soap will last probably 3 times as long as this bottle will last. It comes in a small paper wrapper that will begin biodegrading the minute it hits the landfill. It's a bit of a no-brainer.
So, I'm going to forego my beloved body wash in favor of the more practical bar of soap. A tiny step, but one I can definitely live with.
Do you talk the talk or do you walk the walk? I'd love to hear what steps you're taking, no matter how small, to make our planet a better place for ourselves, but more importantly, for our children and grandchildren.
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