Advocacy
Save the Turtles. Top Story - May 2021.
Why won't anybody please think of the turtles!!! Image from Sport Diver.org Image from Australian Geographic Pretty dramatic, huh? Rest assured, these pictures are tame compared to the graphic, heartbreaking, gory ones I found while researching my topic. Due to my respect for wildlife, and my mom's intense love for turtles, I won't be showing those. Yes, the reality is often darker than it needs to be. But, if it gets the point across, then it's worth the trouble.
By Rain Dayze5 years ago in Earth
Save The Whales!
"Save the whales! Save the whales! Stop using water! Honk to save the whales!" The chanting continued as I tried to enjoy my arts and crafts indoors. Drawn to the point of irritation I went to the front door and peered out to see my little sister marching in wide circles around the front lawn with a hand written sign in the drunken scrawl that can only belong to an eight-year-old. In true picketing fashion, her little construction paper sign is haphazardly taped to a ruler and she's pumping her little arms up and down, shaking her sign at any car that drives past our corner house.
By L. M. Williams5 years ago in Earth
Masks and PPE have a Big Plastic Pollution Problem, Here's Is How We Are Fixing It
The coronavirus pandemic has changed our daily lives in so many big ways, it's easy to lose track of its less obvious impacts. While we’re tracking infection rates and figuring out how to best distribute vaccines, COVID has created just the right conditions for a surge in plastic waste.
By Sumit Kumar Singh5 years ago in Earth
I Started an Eco-Club for Kids and it Changed My Life.. Top Story - May 2021.
It was 2015. I had begun the year depressed about the environment. I couldn't take any more news articles on the declining climate crisis, and was constantly inundated with infographic memes of how we're trashing our world. During my doom-scrolling one day, I came across a link to a Climate Reality Project training by the one and only, Nobel Laureate Al Gore, which was coming to my area, and a link to an application. I decided enough was enough, I felt pushed to take action.
By Christina Hunter5 years ago in Earth
Saving The Kemps
I don't remember how old I was when I first saw this memorable news piece about the growing concern of our planetary health on the Music Television channel. This was a time where MTV primarily only played music videos. MTV news brought the major international and domestic headlines to a young audience. It was a genius way to get the youth thinking. I remember Kurt Loder, in between videos, giving the breaking news from across the globe. The fall of the Berlin Wall, growing poverty in America, and this piece on our planet's health. This all dates me, but that fifteen-to-thirty-minute mini-documentary is still stuck in my head. It must have been Earth Day or the response to some major oil spill in our waters; I remember the Exxon Valdez oil spill vividly. The images that are still imprinted in my head were a series of shots of dense pollution from different parts of the globe. A shot of children playing in garbage piled waters in India, a bulldozer shoving massive piles of trash in a land fill in somewhere, USA; a quick shot of wildlife entangled in trash. I remember going to school the next day or perhaps maybe a few days after, and we, as a school, planted trees that would one day provide great shade for future generations. It was a celebration, the local news came out and took pictures, some of our names got in the local paper and the very lucky few got interviewed. To a kid, that moment where you find your name in the black and white print, or maybe see yourself on the local news; it was our miniscule fifteen minutes of fame. We didn't have the social media outlets like we do today. The reporters took their pictures and asked their questions. We talked about what the importance of doing our part to "save the planet," meant to us youngsters. It felt good. Couple that with watching a couple of episodes of Captain Planet in a school time pizza party, we felt like heroes. Our hands literally planted something that the future population would appreciate. They were even talking about putting a plaque on the school grounds to commemorate this single event. A plaque that read something to the effect of, planted by the whatever class of whatever year, and have all our names on it. Immortalized. The day belonged to us, we were environmentalists for one day. Then the following day came. I had the same emotional high as before, but I felt like I was the only one. I remember going out of my way to pick up litter. A piece of paper here and a soda can there. I truly felt like I was the only one who still cared after a day of such importance. Overnight, the mood of the adults went back to; normal. No fan fair of recycling, no pizza parties for planting trees or picking up trash. I, however, felt like I needed to keep this feeling going. I was not perfect nor am I perfect right now when it comes to keeping an always mindful headspace focused on our environment. It felt like I was doing my part then, and I feel like I'm still trying to make a difference now. Why? Because every so often I can visually see the fruits of my small labor.
By Anthony Diaz5 years ago in Earth
