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Patty Craig: A Slice of Time

We’ve been hearing for a while that our environment is in danger. On June 18, Pope Francis officially agreed: he called for decisive action to stop global warming and environmental ruin. He wrote, “We may well be leaving to coming generations debris, desolation and filth” (http://ncronline.org/news/theology/pope-francis-encyclical-urgent-call-p...).

For as long as I can remember, our leaders have debated how to care for our environment. I think we recognize many of the problems; but, since these tend to be world-wide problems, we don’t have total control of the solutions. Many have expressed their opinions about our environment, and some of those include the following (http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/environment):
•    Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's needs, but not every man's greed. -Mahatma Gandhi
•    If the bee disappeared off the face of the earth, man would only have four years left to live. -Maurice Maeterlinck, The Life of the Bee
•    A nation that destroys its soils destroys itself. Forests are the lungs of our land, purifying the air and giving fresh strength to our people. -Franklin D. Roosevelt
•    Oh Beautiful for smoggy skies, insecticided grain,
For strip-mined mountain's majesty above the asphalt plain.
America, America, man sheds his waste on thee,
And hides the pines with billboard signs, from sea to oily sea. -George Carlin
•    When the last tree is cut and the last fish killed, the last river poisoned, then you will see that you can't eat money. -John May, The Greenpeace Story
•    People 'over-produce' pollution because they are not paying for the costs of dealing with it. -Ha-Joon Chang, 23 Things They Don't Tell You About Capitalism
•    Man is a complex being: he makes deserts bloom – and lakes die. -Gil Scott-Heron
•    Put on a sweater. -Jimmy Carter

I asked friends and family how they help to care for the environment. Their responses were:
•    Recycling paper, plastic, aluminum and cardboard.
•    I don’t litter.
•    I try to control the wildlife population.
•    I don’t litter. I pick up trash outside when I see it. I used to recycle cans.
•    We have mandatory recycling of plastic and paper. I don’t litter. I have a flex fuel car, and I don’t build fires.
•    Recycle paper and plastic. The city picks it up weekly, I don’t use Styrofoam products. I also try to avoid pesticides.
•    I drive a hybrid vehicle, recycle cans/bottles, and do not litter.
•    Recycle, collect rain water for flower beds, mulch and compost, buy energy efficient appliances, and upcycle containers.
•    I never litter. If you need proof, just look inside my car!
•    No littering and proper disposal of used oil.
•    I don’t litter (one of my pet peeves). I’ve been trying to compost more and grow my vegetables without using a lot of pesticides. I also try to conserve energy by turning off lights and TVs that no one is using.
•    I don’t litter, and I recycle cans. We have collected over 2800 pounds of plastic tops at school to have seven benches made from recycled materials. I also drive a hybrid car.
•    I don’t do a lot, but I don’t litter.
•    I recycle aluminum cans, and I don’t litter. I also try to be conscious of fuel consumption by taking care of errands when I drive in that direction.

Pope Francis’ words are a reminder of our environmental responsibilities. Arianna Huffington said, “Why worry about minor little details like clean air, clean water, safe ports and the safety net when Jesus is going to give the world an ‘Extreme Makeover: Planet Edition’ right after he finishes putting Satan in his place once and for all?” (http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/environment). Until that time, we are responsible for our environmental actions. 

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