Ok, so now I finally feel like we have made an effort to save the environment. I have always felt that we should. Ever since my 7th Science grade teacher, Mr. Hipkens, taught us about Earth Day, recycling and conservation, I have been preaching it for years.
When I was in 7th grade I used to make my Mom recycle the newspapers. We would save them for about a month in the basement and then my Dad would tie them up in paper garbage bags and twine and we would deliver them to the special bins at the Far Rockaway High School.
Then I convinced my Mom that there were too many pollutants in the water so she began to boil the water before she put it into the refrigerator. She did that everyday until the day she died.
We celebrated the first Earth Day in 1970. We had this HUGE ball that had the image of the Earth on the outside of it. We tossed it around on the girl's field hockey field.
Fast forward to today. Today is Earth Day 2007 and we installed those new bulbs in our lamps to replace the incandescent ones. Supposedly, one bulb saves you $60 a year. So we replaced about 10 bulbs. Let's see if that makes a dent in our electric bill?
We still recycle. I make sure that all the newspapers go in one bin and all the glass and plastic go in the other one. I am constantly pulling things out of the garbage to recycle. I know what our garbage dumps look like.
Back in 1986 when I was writing for the County Line, the County's employee newsletter, I used to interview different employees about their jobs and write profiles about them. One employee that I interviewed worked at the landfill in Pembroke Pines/Miramar area. There really was NOTHING out there at the time except for the landfill. He took me for a ride on the landfill and I took photos and he explained that there are two different areas at the landfill. One is for "wet" garbage and the other is for "dry" garbage.
We happened to be on the wet area. They cover the garbage with gravel. It doesn't smell like you think it might smell, however, it has a very distinct odor. Not something that you would want to spray in your house! But it was tolerable. As we stood on that landfill and the other workers were driving their trucks, you could feel the ground shaking under your feet as though the ground was made of rubber! It was the oddest feeling that I have ever felt (well, except for the earthquake that we were in, but that is another story!).
Anyway, my point is, since I have seen how much garbage there is, just in Broward county, I get frustrated when I see wasted items end up in the garbage pail. I know that it is only going to end up in a landfill and it will take hundreds if not thousands of years to decompose. We HAVE to find a way to recycle more and not waste anything.
I recently read Al Gore's book about Global Warming. I am not sure how much is real and how much is rhetoric, but if everyone does something, no matter how small or insignificant, we can make a difference.
Unplug appliances that are not in use, they still pull power. Turn off the TV when you leave a room. Take shorter showers. Wash the clothes in cold water. Take Mass Transit. Plan your trips to the grocery and the post office so that you don't waste gas. Whatever you do, at least it is something!
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