Uncle Sam Wants YOU...

Call it more ridiculous hippie jargon. Call it arrogant rage. Call it whatever you want.
Just don’t ignore it.
Let us first dispel the REAL ridiculous-ness. Personally, I don’t care if you’re white, black, yellow, red, purple, or orange. I don’t care if you live in America, Germany, Botswana, China, or Timbucktu. It doesn’t matter to me, not one iota of a percent, if you’re a Democrat, Republican, Independent, or Communist. I don’t care how much money you make or don’t make. I don’t care if you have the latest Blackberry or Touch phone. And it actually doesn’t concern me if you believe in God, Allah, Yahweh, Odin, Zeus, or Chuck Norris. There is one thing we all have in common.
We’re human, and we live on Earth. We were appointed by a higher power to be the caretakers of this planet, and we have shirked our duty. As far as the other stuff, GET OVER IT!
There is speculation that a meteor crashed into Earth and caused the extinction of the dinosaurs. Now, instead of an outside influence, humans are the driving force behind the greatest mass extinction of our time. Here’s the reality: absent a huge meteor crashing into Earth, humans are the most destructive force the planet has ever seen. The atomic bomb? Created by humans. Toxic waste? HUMAN.
You might even want to discuss diseases. Bubonic plague, ebola virus, Marburg, AIDS, SARS, bird-flu… fine. Let’s consider that, shall we? The Bubonic Plague, more popularly known as The Black Death, killed over one quarter of the European population in the mid 1300’s. Wow. One quarter of the population of medieval Europe. While I agree that it was horrible, and I wish so many people would not have had to suffer and die a painful death, the number pales in comparison to what humans have done to each other: The Holocaust, Genocide in Russia, China, Africa, and the Balkans, slavery in the Americas and Europe, “race” disputes between Israel and Palestine, India and Pakistan, China and Taiwan, you name it. The most unspeakable acts of nature are committed by humans. Some of the worst have been against our environment. Humans are the only species on the planet that destroy the place they live.
By now you’re asking what this is really about. My point here is this: Humans, and human behavior, needs to change. You can’t do that by passing a law, or enacting a policy. Policy doesn’t change people, people have to change first.
With all the problems in the world today, I’d say there are three that rank above all else:
1) World Hunger
2) Disappearing Habitats/ Species
3) Energy
These problems encompass a host of smaller issues that make up the whole. Perhaps the worst part is that no one person can possibly solve these problems. The planet is just too big to save in one fell swoop. In fact, before these three problems can be solved, one bigger issue needs to be addressed first:
In order for the vast majority of people to care about the Earth, about others, and about the future… they must first stop looking out for Number One. Without getting into creationisms here, it can safely be surmised that all humans were created with a similar instinct: Survival. Will a single mother, working two jobs to keep food on the table for her children, give money to save the whales? She may wish to, but the needs of her children, and herself, have to come first.
This is not a bad thing at all. Of course family comes first; you see it all the time in the wild. What I mean is that it is the duty of society to help one another. All the world’s major religions share the belief that it is a virtue to sacrifice for the good of others. There are many people in this world who volunteer at homeless shelters, day-care centers, food banks, national parks, inner city schools, and everywhere in between. These are the unsung heroes, the real people who should be on posters in bedrooms and used an example for children everywhere.
But they’re not.
For every story you hear about a sports ‘icon’ giving back to the community, there are twenty more about the latest one abusing steroids, being arrested, or involved in hit and run accidents. The media loves a sensational story, and will exploit it until the very last cent can be squeezed out of it. This is where we, as a society, have a responsibility to step up and say “Knock it off.”
Another dose of reality for you: One in two children in the world will become a victim of starvation, most in Third World countries. The Earth has already lost half its forests, and almost half its species will become extinct in the next 20 – 30 years. At the current rate of energy consumption, all of the world’s oil will be used up in a matter of YEARS, not centuries. Yet we are content to sit back and let all these things happen.
“Knock it off!”
This is my stand. This is my turn to stand up and say “Enough is enough.” Call me preachy. Call me a hippie. Call me whatever you like, I DON’T CARE. But since you’ve come this far in the article, at least hear what I have to say.
I can’t save the world by myself, but we, as a society, can make a big impact on that front. I’m not asking for money, or for you to even care about the fact that over 2000 species of frogs (one third of all of them, by the way) are endangered. Like most Americans, you probably said, “Why should I care?” No, I’m not asking you to do research or invest huge amounts of time and energy in this. All I’m asking for are a few, very EASY things, all of which will save you money:
1) Try out ORT. ORT stands for Organic Recyclable Trash, which is another way of saying “Food waste.” Come on, we’re all guilty of it. Who hasn’t thrown food away uneaten?
While working at Nature’s Classroom Atop Lookout Mountain in Mentone, Alabama, I learned that ORT is an easy way to SAVE MONEY. Yes, you can save money by trying out ORT. The whole concept of ORT is to not have any. As in, no food or liquid thrown away or dumped at the end of a meal. Sound hard? Really it’s not. Instead of piling food on your plate at the beginning of a meal, take smaller portions and come back for seconds later. Eat your fill, but try not to have ANY food left on your plate when you are done. If at home, save the uneaten food in the refrigerator for later. If you’re out at a restaurant, take home anything you didn’t eat, again for later. At the Classroom, we reward students for being “ORT-less,” but it is not a requirement. I’m not asking you to gorge yourself if you’re full, but to just reduce your food waste overall.
And, as I said, this CAN SAVE YOU MONEY! Think about it. When you buy a car, you try to get the most for your money, right? It’s the same way with food! By throwing out uneaten but perfectly good food, you waste the money that went into BUYING that food. By saving it, you won’t have to go out and buy more until later than you thought. By practicing ORT, it is actually possible to save $50 to $100 dollars on every grocery bill, depending on family size.
ORT can also save you money on your energy bills. You have to cook food, right? So why cook a ton of food and waste it? All you did there was add $$$ to your gas and/or electric bill! So instead, save it and eat it later. Seriously, check your bills at the end of every month after practicing ORT, you’ll see them reduce. That money adds up over time!
Oh yeah… the smaller portions help you lose weight, did I mention that?
2) Switch off the lights. And not just the lights; the heat, the faucet, the fans, EVERYTHING. Now, of course I’m not talking about when you need them. But if you’re not in the room, you waste money by leaving lights and appliances on! Your water bill can go through the roof by leaving the water running when brushing your teeth. And seriously, get off the couch and play a game with your kids! Engage your mind, not your wallet, and turn off the TV. So many of us use the TV as a babysitter nowadays; instead, encourage your children to use their imaginations. By playing a game, reading a story, or going outside, children grow and become more intelligent while your wallet gets fatter.
3) Help out. I know, I know, you have NO time to volunteer at a homeless shelter or read to kids at the library. So? It’s as simple as holding the door for someone. The littlest thing can make someone’s day, so don’t hesitate! There was a great commercial recently where all the people in it would do something nice for someone else, and it would get noticed by others, inspiring them to do the same. It came around full circle, and the first person to do something nice had something little done for them. One little thing to brighten someone’s day. It’ll come back to you, I guarantee it.
4) Care. Care about yourself enough to know when TV makes you apathetic. Care enough to learn what ‘apathetic’ means (you might, but you’d be surprised by how many people have to Wikipedia that word). Care about others, even just a little bit. Even when they don’t care about you. I guarantee that someone, somewhere, appreciates it. Care enough to appreciate what others do for you. Care enough not to litter, to recycle, and to, in doing so, make the Earth just a little bit better.
You might be wondering what these things have to do with my original argument. Well, ORT helps by spreading food to other places. The way markets work is by volume. Wal-mart, for example, keeps tabs on how much of everything is being bought and in what places certain items are popular. If people buy more corn in Buffalo, New York than in Chattanooga, Tennessee, they ship more corn to Buffalo and less to Chattanooga. By re-distributing the supplies, foodstuffs eventually stockpile and need to be offloaded by the corporation to prevent them from losing money, so they either put it on sale, or donate it. ORT will eventually help food get to the places it needs to go in the world.
By using less energy, you not only reduce your bills but also help conserve that energy for later use. This especially important for gas. Ride a bike or walk down the street to the convenience store, and if it’s too cold… don’t go!
Helping out means you’ve taken the time to care, and that helps spread the sentiment around. Here again, it helps by spreading that feeling of joy and happiness to other parts of the world, whether by influencing government leaders to send aid or by convincing someone to join the Peace Corps.
Want to save the frogs? I do. Therefore, next time we’re at the bank together, I’ll get the door for you, hoping silently that you’ll pay the sentiment forward to someone else.