AN AGENDA TO TURN THINGS AROUND.
“I entered the sweat lodge. I made my prayers strong and clear: to turn things around. Ideas and thoughts came, then and later. They asked to be written.
An omen signed they be published. Thus have I done.
Jeffrey Strong-On-The-Path
I have heard said in my travels that we are living in “the age of little
kings.” Certainly there is some truth to this. Most people have their own house, which they regard as their palace, and most sit down to meals that not so many generations ago would have been regarded as veritable feasts accompanied by enter-
t a i n m e n t , u s u a l l y on t h e t u b e or s t e r e o , t h e l i k e s o f w h i c h w o u l d d u m b f o u n d t h e deceased of only a hundred years. It would seem that if we are to pass these
blessings on to future generations that a new age is in order. I call it the age of “the l i t t l e heroes of the environment.” What is meant is many people very determinedly making every effort to protect and enhance the environment, often in
a very quiet, even anonymous manner. Recycling, walking or bicycling, composting, gardening, simply trying to live together in harmony, rallying for parks and open space, protesting short-sighted logging and mining practices, marching for peace and disarmament, just picking up litter, etc. This article is a salute to you,
the little heroes of the environment. It is also a prayer that we may all see the
wisdom of such l i t t l e heroic gestures and become the guardians of this earth, for it is said that the creator put us here to witness and enjoy the beauty of his
creation.
Consider for a moment what things would be like i f everyone acted as a l i t t l e
hero of the environment. In terms of recycling, virtually nothing goes to the dump anymore. Our children (who mastered computers so easily) have been taught
in school all about recycling and many have gone on to become little geniuses and “wizzes” so what used to go into the garbage is now finding its way back to its
source of creation where it is broken down into its components, then repaired or
remanufactured. Old toasters, refrigerators, watches, plastic items, paints, you
name it – – if it came from somewhere it can go back there and things are manufac-
tured and distributed to make all this possible. People are taking a l i t t l e more
time, of course, to make all this happen, but they have learned to appreciate and preserve these technological wonders as gifts and treasures to be passed on to
future generations – – but this is not surprising, for they are ” l i t t l e heroes of the environment.” Landfills are virtually obsolete, mining is hardly necessary, and the pollution due to smelting and manufacturing is greatly reduced — just by recycling – -a total recycling we could evolve towards.
Traffic is about a tenth of what it was. People have realized the wisdom of living closer to their jobs and giving each other rides. From the air we see a
city designed for bicycles and people on foot as opposed to a world of pavement
and parking lots. All buildings are solar heated and roofed with solar cell
panels. Shopping is often done with a back back. The air is clearer, the people healthier. The streams and rivers once covered over have been rediscovered–ponds, parks and walkways, developed around them. People have learned to live together
and have clustered their houses around courtyards where children play together. Intensive gardening and l i t t l e farms intermingle with housing or s i t close to the
outskirts, since self-sufficiency has been found to be healthier and have less im-pact than preserving and trucking things from a distance. Hilltops and vantage points have been left clear and in the resulting open spaces between the housing clusters, people gather, often silently, just to witness the beauty of the setting sun.
Sound like some far-fetched utopia? Not really — it is within our grasp. For
example, when I was in grade school we did l i t t l e fi r e hazard inspections of people’s houses. Why can’t a recycling and hazardous chemical inspection be done by the kids?
They’d learn, we’d learn, and we all benefit from such a program. For now, what you can do is turn off the boob tube tonight for an hour or so and start by going through
your garbage…does it have to go further congest some landfill? Personally, I sure would like a place for all these plastic bags to go. As yet they are not recyclable,
I am told. Take some time and reflect. Look at your job and what is going on there, what’s going in the dumpsters, into the air, down the drain and into some river.
And leave the tube off the next night and try taking a walk. Is there a place to walk even, is a park near? Isn’t there something we’ve been forgetting? Work gently but determinedly – – become a l i t t l e hero of the environment and turn things
around.
Property of JDC, SSR-Gold Hill, Boulder, Colorado 80302. Phone 303-449-3797.
