You may ask yourself why we are doing this? Why would we spend so much of our precious time doing research, writing, meeting with and speaking with so many people in different facets of life, just to help people try to understand what is really happening to our gorgeous planet, our incredible animals, and our people?
The short and simple answer is we love the water and all its wonderful marine life. A longer answer is we love our streams, rivers, lakes, canals, ponds, bays, seas, oceans, and national waterparks. In South Florida, we love the Everglades, Florida Bay, and Biscayne Bay. We love the Florida Keys, the west coast of Florida and the beautiful Gulf of Mexico. We love our amazing rivers and crystal springs. I am certain that if you have national parks and other environmental gems in your state, as we do in ours, you are also proud of your environmental treasures.
Personally, I love being on the water, sailing or boating, kayaking, canoeing, windsurfing, and paddle boarding. I love fishing, snorkeling, scuba diving, and lobstering. I love sitting on the beach with the wind rustling through the fronds of the palm trees, digging my feet into the sand, dipping my feet into the water, and just relaxing in my beach chair watching people enjoying nature. I love the great outdoors, forests, mountains, and national parks. I love camping and exploring. I love observing wildlife in all its natural splendor. What about you?
You may be thinking: “Well, I like some of those things too, but what can I possibly do to make a difference? It’s an impossible task. It seems useless so why bother? Just thinking about the environment is depressing.” You also may say that you are too busy, you do not have the time, you work too hard and want to relax and not worry about world problems because life is complicated enough, too few people really care about this stuff, and you have way more important things to worry about. Okay, fair enough.
I recently read a beautiful book called “Braiding Sweetgrass,” by Robin Wall Kimmerer. If you are concerned about the environment or the state of our planet, this book really is a ‘must read.’ I will be quoting passages from this book that I hope will give you food for thought to make changes in your life that will help our world get back on the right track. Robin Wall Kimmerer writes:
We are deluged by information regarding our destruction of the world and almost nothing on how to nurture it. It is no surprise then that environmentalism becomes synonymous with dire predictions and powerless feelings. Our natural inclination to do right by the world is stifled, breeding despair when it should be inspiring action. The participatory role of people in the well-being of the land has been lost, our reciprocal relations reduced to a KEEP OUT sign. (p. 327).
Let ME ask YOU a question. What do YOU love? Your children, grandchildren, family, friends? Obvious, correct? What about leisure time, adventure, traveling, relaxing, hiking, fresh air, nature? If you love any of these things, wouldn’t you like our world to be as beautiful and full of natural wonders for future generations as it has been for you? Wouldn’t you like to see our amazing creatures thriving instead of becoming endangered or going extinct? Maybe it’s time to take the time to learn about what is really happening in our world, get involved, and see how you can help.
WE CANNOT DESPAIR. We cannot simply look away or remain quiet. As noted by Robin Wall Kimmerer:
People do know the consequences of our collective damage, they do know the wages of an extractive economy, but they don’t stop. They get very sad, they get very quiet. So quiet that protection of the environment that enables them to eat and breathe and imagine a future for their children doesn’t even make it onto a list of their top ten concerns. The Haunted Hayride of toxic waste dumps, the melting glaciers, the litany of doomsday projections – they move anyone who is still listening only to despair.” (p. 328).
Know this. Your race, religion, skin color, political affiliation, education, nationality, or domicile doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter whether you are old, young, rich, poor, or whether you believe in science or climate change. Although we all may differ in so many ways, we will always have something in common binding us together. We are all human beings sharing the same spectacular planet. We all should want to preserve and protect our planet, its animals, and its people.
Follow us. Join our e-mail list and join in the conversation. Ask questions, express your opinions, post relevant media, or research on environmental issues, and help generate discussions. Let’s learn together, and perhaps discover what is truthful information, and what is either false or highly exaggerated information. Let’s see what is possible and how each of us may contribute in some fashion. Help us get others involved so we may exponentially grow our numbers and potential influence. This is your personal invitation. The door is wide open.
