Eighty percent of the people in America claim to be “environmentalists.” So why are we trembling on the brink of ecological devastation?
Perhaps what we need aren’t more “environmentalists,” but more involved citizens taking active roles advocating for change. If a tree is cut on your public lands and you quietly disagree from your living room couch, does anyone hear you?
Understandably, most people just want to relax after a hard day’s work. What if businesses donated an hour a week of their employees’ time to a local nonprofit? A business could repay the community for its financial support while enhancing its public image.
What if people combined some of their socializing with advocacy? At a neighborhood potluck, what if everyone spent 10 minutes writing a letter condemning logging in their drinking water supply? Instead of spoiling the party, this sort of group effort would only strengthen the bonds between people.
Of course, no one wants to be serious all the time. What’s the point of living if you can’t take the time to enjoy it? But the reason we are afforded the luxuries of being able to say what we want, hold whatever beliefs we want, and associate with whomever we want, is because countless people have given their blood, sweat and tears – even their lives – to ensure that we have those liberties.
Do we not owe the same to our children’s children? Don’t they
deserve the same freedoms and opportunities that we all too often take for granted?
If we do not act – and act now – future generations will curse our names. And would they not be justified in doing so?
Josh Schlossberg
Eugene