It’s Earthday; Keep Spinning
I usually celebrate Earth Day by picking up litter with my Science Club. Unfortunately, due to Coronavirus concerns, those events were cancelled this year. Now all the discarded masks and gloves will have have no one to intercept them from washing into the ocean and choking the sea turtles.
As an Environmental Activist, I’m aware these set backs are common. I’ve been sprayed with a hose for explaining to someone the benefits of using an organic soap to wash their car. On multiple occasions I had to jump in the recycling dumpster in a dress to pull out all the misplaced trash. And once I organized a trash pick up where the kids I recruited and I ended up digging beer cans out of a mud puddle that had formed from people all peeing in the same spot.
This Spring, while I was alone on a wooded trail trying to save the White Trillium from millions of invasive garlic mustard plants, a poem came to mind:
“I saw a man pursuing the horizon;
Round and round they sped.
I was disturbed at this;
I accosted the man.
‘It is futile,’ I said.
‘You can never-’
‘You lie’, he cried,
and ran on.”
— Stephen Crane
Trying to work towards the solution of Environmental Issues oftentimes makes me feel like the man chasing the horizon. Like him, I have to face the overwhelming doubts of others who feel solving these issues are impossible, but, also like him, I have no intention of stopping. Even though humans are responsible for the current mass extinction, I still believe that education will be able to save us from the problems we are causing if we can just move past the apathy.
So if you’re looking for an idea to celebrate America’s 50th Earth Day, consider picking up litter, choosing a reusable option over a disposable one, getting familiar with exotic, invasive plants in your area and help weed them away, support a local farm, or plant a garden, then consider taking the Green Thumbs Up Challenge so we can learn from each other different ways to go about protecting our resources:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBi2-0JDQZk&t=11s
And to the Seniors in my Science Club, and to all the 2020 Seniors; keep chasing those dreams no matter what people say, and if you ever feel like you’re just spinning in circles, remember that’s what stops the Earth from being destroyed by the Sun.