Earth Ramble

A few weeks ago I read an editorial on newyorktimes.com that shattered the green-girl in me.  The opinionator basically said, "Hey all you bring-your-own-bags-to-the-grocery-store, ride-your-bike-to-work, keep-the-thermostat-at-65-in-the-winter-and-80-in-the-summer, never-use-lights-in-the-house so-called environmentalists, what you are doing - it's not helping the Earth AT ALL!!  By 2021 the Earth is still going to smatter into smithereens.  Your efforts are useless, silly ,and, did I mention, frivilous."  His point was that a handful of hippies here and there aren't going to do anything to counter-act the billions of folks who aren't green-bagging it.  He wanted to motivate those who plant a tree every April 24 to start making some political noise so that unnamed, maybe yet unthought of large measures get passed that will force the world's citizens into keeping the Earth in one piece come 2021.

So I'm trying to figure this out.  I'm a slightly earth-conscious gal.  I go through fits of extreme recycling, we're going to get a compost bin soon, I try to keep lights at a minimum and I watch our thermostat.  It's certainly nothing to write Green Peace about, but it's my little bit at this point in my life.  When I read his article I felt like turning our thermostat to 65 in 110 degree weather and letting the sprinklers run all day just in case the kids want to run through them.  If it doesn't matter, not even just a little, well then Hallelujah, I'll never recycle another cardboard box again.  I can't help but think there were a few other people like me who, after reading the article, felt beaned over the head and like throwing in the recycling bin.

But then, maybe he's right.  Maybe all the environmentally-friendly acts we do are silly unless millions or billions of people are forced to do them along with us.  And if he had to offend a few little guys like me to galvanize the hard-core, daisy-in-the-hair Earthphilists, then so be it.  I started the green-bag revolution believing it was the wave of the future.  I thought all unenlightened plastic-and-paper folks would see my example and grab up some green bags of their own.  A year later I was embarrassed to be the only person holding up the line at the Walmart while the checker lady spent an inordinate amount of time trying to get my green bags to stand up right so she could load them.

You know that corny story about all the starfish on the beach and the little boy who was throwing them back in the ocean because it mattered to that one starfish?  Can that story be ironed-on to all major projects - you know beyond just saving souls, but saving the Earth, or saving our country from debt or making people not poor or getting the right president or you know...all that stuff?

I guess what I think after writing this out is that you do need the Chicken Little's who let you know the sky is falling to get some momentum under things, but you just can't underestimate or beat-over-the-head the boring, old, can't-get-a-spark-to-light-under-their-bottom folks who want to do even a little bit.

Ummmmm...the end.  Definitely a ramble today.  Love you all for being patient with me.