“The environment is where we all meet; where all have a mutual interest; it is the one thing all of us share.”
At 7:15 a couple of banging sounds at the window woke me up. It was a bird. It flew at the window a couple of times more then I whacked the window with my hand, and the bird flew away. I tried to go back to sleep, but a robo call at 7:45 was the end of my sleeping. Gracie, though, sighed and went back to sleep. Maddie never even woke up.
As for today’s weather, ditto yesterday’s. As for my plans for today, ditto yesterday’s.
I missed the first Earth Day. It happened during my time in Ghana. I read about it when the New York Times Week in Review was sent to me by Peace Corps Ghana. It was their way to keep us connected to what was happening at home. I admit I wasn’t all that interested in Earth Day. My daily life revolved around my students and Bolgatanga, my town, but in retrospect, I realize Ghanaians saved the Earth every day. They repurposed everything. My sandals had soles from old tires. My rice was wrapped in the New York Times compliments of Thomas who worked for me. Tin cans were recycled. My meat from the market was wrapped in leaves. Mammy lorries and buses never left the lorry park until all the seats and even the aisles were full of passengers though that always irritated me, the waiting time.
When I was a kid, we never thought twice about throwing everything in the trash. There were no recycle centers because none of us knew about recycling. The trash was put out on the curb once a week, picked up and willy-nilly thrown into the back of the trash truck. I liked to watch the trash being compacted by the truck. That was my only interest in trash.
My town encourages recycling, and I do my best, but I still feel helpless. So much is way beyond my control. Mr. Trump is not a friend of the Earth. That scares me.
Explore posts in the same categories: MusingsTags: New York Times Week in Review, Peace Corps Ghana, rainy, recycle
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April 22, 2017 at 2:29 pm
Until the 1970s no one cared about the environment except for the Sierra Club and a few left over hippies. We never thought about waste or pollution until the Arab oil embargo in 1973. Fortunately climate scientists were tracking what we were doing to the atmosphere as global temperatures slowly climbed. By the the 1990s LA’s infamous smog was tamed and the demise of the steel indu cleared the air in Pittsburgh.
However, the economic interests of the energy business has turned science on it’s head. They use the same tactics that the tobacco and sugar industry used to deny smoking as a cause of cancer and fat was the coast of heart disease not over weight and diabetes caused by carbohydrates. Always follow the money when it comes to funding research at private think tanks. I will probably not live to see the devastating effects on climate change on this country but what a horrible legacy we are leaving our children. Trump may not have any legislation wins in his first 100 days in the White House, but his environmental record is atrocious.
After the thunderstorms came through last night the cold front dropped our temperature today by over 20 F degrees. Today is actually a breezy 58 degrees. By Tuesday they are forecasting temperatures in the low 90 degree range.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-100-days-environment-earth-day_us_58f87b68e4b0cb086d7e3175?0u
April 22, 2017 at 8:05 pm
Bob,
I remember waiting in line for gas and watching one attendant change the price from 47cents to 50. I couldn’t believe it.
Money has always been the incentive for ignoring the problems of the Earth. What strides have been made have been obliterated by Trump and his cohorts. Nothing can stop them.
Your temperature sounds like mine this time of year.
April 23, 2017 at 8:36 am
I skipped school to go to the rally at the Washington Monument. After all the speeches, as everyone was leaving, the hillside was covered in litter. My friends and I spent some time picking up trash. It amazed me how all those people couldn’t put the words and their actions together. Denise
April 23, 2017 at 1:36 pm
Denise,
I am as appalled as you are. A rally to save the Earth is just fine but, as you wrote, actions follow the words. There is no excuse for littering. It is the easiest way to help the Earth.