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“Cherish the wide Earth.” This statement is engraved into a stone fireplace in the dining hall at my childhood summer camp. It has stood in front of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of Scouts from Connecticut and abroad, imposing its four-word visage on all. It has also been engraved into my being, and I try to live by it as much as I can.
It seems to me that being “environmentally conscious” has become common – everyone is into the act – but rarely does anyone invest time or energy into it. How many people do you know who openly say they don’t care about or dislike the environment? I don’t know a single one, but I do know people who haven’t done squat.
Environmentalism has become the new fad. Now everyone buys recycled coffee cups, uses less paper, turns lights off when they leave their room or walks instead of getting into a car. What am I getting at?
How about doing more for the planet than buying recycled goods or shopping at Urban Outfitters? Stop spending money and start spending time with the Earth – the one you should be cherishing. Pick up trash, fix a trail, volunteer at a nature center to spread awareness. In essence, work with your hands and not with your wallet. Don’t just speak about environmental consciousness; act on it.
Those who work at my summer camp, including myself, are reprimanded if we walk by a piece of trash and don’t pick it up. Litter detracts from the surroundings and the quality of the camp. It has become habit to me now, and I will pick up someone else’s trash and place it in the garbage can on my way to class.
It reminds me of the story of a father and son who always go hiking in the woods. The father casually brings a garbage bag with them on each hike and picks up any trash he finds. One day, the boy questioned his father as to why they were picking up someone else’s trash “It’s not ours,” he said. “It’s just going to blow away anyway. What is removing one garbage bag full of trash going to do?”
The father replied, “There are three types of people: There are those who are going to do less than their share. They will go as they please, waiting for someone else to pick up their trash. There are those who do equal to what they put out. There are those who do more than their share, attempting to compensate for everyone else’s actions. Which do you want to be?”
We seem to take pride in being an environmentally-conscious campus but we can’t seem to hit the mark, or even the garbage can sometimes. Our actions create who we will be for the rest of our lives. We all need to do everything we can.
Russell Clark is a junior biology and German student.
Bangor Daily News