Margaret D. Andrews
Whether you are just learning what a CFC is, or are a seasoned environmental activist, it’s hard not to feel overwhelmed by the facts. You may be wondering, “What’s the use? The pollution and destruction are too rampant to ever be halted.”
It’s not too late, however. You are alive in the 1990s, the “decade of the environment.” The National Wildlife Federation claims that if you convinced two people to do something for the environment, and the next day they convinced two people, and so on, less than a month would pass before everyone in the United States would be alerted to take action. You can make a difference.
You have tremendous power as a teacher. You can think. Your students can think. You can educate yourself and your students about a situation, and then act and teach accordingly. Follow the path of your actions. Discuss and share with the class.
It may be convenient to stop at a fast food restaurant for a hamburger, but all of us will experience climatic changes from diminishing rain forests.
You can make a decision not to consume fast food. The ivory trade causes 80,000 elephants a year to be slain for their tusks. If the slaughter continues, every wild elephant will be killed in five years—but we will have plenty of tie clips and earings to remember them by—unless you decide not to buy ivory.
Must destruction be the legacy of our species? Are humans incapable of appreciating the flora and fauna of a given ecosystem for their contributions to the entire scheme of life without profiting from the abuse of our resources?
We have exploited the earth’s resources for our comfort and vanity, regardless of the cost. Now, the fact that we haven’t taken responsibility for our actions is catching up with us. It is reflected in the degraded state of our planet. If we don’t immediately decide to live in a sustainable manner, nature will simply continue to make the decision for us by providing a habitat less and less habitable.
To stop and think about a product before we buy it may seem like a loss of freedom, but it is the only way to ensure and acceptable quality of life for ourselves and future generations. You, your children, and their children deserve to see the ocean brimming with fish and seashells, not sewage and hypodermic needles. This means we have to think about what we buy and how we dispose of it.
Even if you can’t find the time or space to get into the actual experiments, let your students know. Both you and your students have tremendous power as consumers. Read labels. Can the package be recycled? Does the product contain harmful ingredients? Why spend money on products that will pollute the environment—and ourselves—as we use them? Take a moment to drop a postcard in the mail to the manufacturer saying why you didn’t buy the product. Realize the power that you have to remove wasteful packaging and harmful products from the shelves simply by not buying them!
Every action we perform can be likened to a footstep on the earth; it will leave an imprint. Therefore, step lightly.