In Fall of 1997, Club Earth sponsored it's first essay writing
contest. We hope to sponsor future writing contests in upcoming
semesters. The contest is open to Club Earth members as well as
anyone who in interested in generating ideas for saving our
planet.
The final deadline for Fall 1997 essay submissions was
Tuesday, October 14th, 1997.
The topic for this essay contest asks the question, "Why
is it important to care for the environment?"
Fall 1997 Contest Winner:
Craig Dominguez
The other
day, as I was preparing to go to the store, I happened to
recall a question put to me by my good friend Kamal some
years ago. The question was, "Why is it important to
care for the environment?". It actually gave me pause as
I adjusted my oxygen mask on my way out of the house. I
continued to think on this question as I exited the airlock
of my house and prepared to burrow through the half-mile deep
pile of garbage outside. Having to burrow through "the
pile", as it is known, had been of little concern to me
until that moment. After all, everyone had to burrow through
the layer of garbage that blanketed the entire planet.
I began to think about the question of caring for the
environment as I made my way to the store to pick up a few
cases of purified water. Though I had grown accustomed to
drinking my water from sani-sealed containers (the chemicals
and sewage in the natural water supply being too great for
even heavy duty, high capacity home water filters), I found
myself wondering about what would have happened if anyone HAD
heeded all those warnings about neglecting the environment,
all those years ago.
Maybe we could have somehow cut down on the pollutants we
were putting into the air. Maybe we could have recycled and
re-used more material, instead of adding to our piles of
waste. Maybe we would have tried harder to keep our natural
water sources and other habitats free from pollution.
I had gotten so caught up in nostalgia that I almost
didn’t notice that I hadn’t adjusted my oxygen mask
properly. Not wanting to breathe the lethal levels of toxins
in the air, I quickly re-adjusted my mask and resolved to
think only of the present. After all, I reasoned, it
isn’t so bad, once you get used to it.
Other
essays by Craig Dominguez
Katja Jeney
Why is it important to care about the ENVIRONMENT? Because
the environment is our home. If we are destroying our home,
we are destroying ourselves. Quite frankly, this is what
humankind is presently engaged in: suicide. But this is
nothing new, really. We have currently simply reached a much
higher capability of doing so. Our (industrialized) lives
seem to be structured around this destruction, intertwined in
such a way that it seems we would have to give up life as we
know it and return to pre-industrialized times in order to
save this planet, our environment.
I think that by now we all have heard a lot about WHY it
is important to care about the environment (pollution of air
and water, destruction of ozone layer...). The question is:
HOW will we do it? Education plays a big part: What can we do
as individuals, households, schools, companies...Access and
availability (of recycling facilities, clean gas...) are the
next step. I do think that laws and regulations are
necessary, even though they can always be broken or avoided.
What we really need is a raising of consciousness and of
awareness of who we are and why we are here. It leads us back
to the ancient question about purpose. The misconception that
we are here to become materially rich, and to reach the
highest position of power, have led us to where we are at
today: destroying not only our environment, but also our
relationships and ourselves. But we are bound to learn that
the essential and basic purpose of our existence, the basis
of happiness, is love and harmony within ourselves, in our
relationships, and towards our environment. Once our human
hearts and spirits have matured to that understanding, we
will naturally care about the environment as an extension of
ourselves.
I don't think we have to give up modern technology or
science at all; guided by a mature mind, heart and spirit, it
can take us to a way of living where we will truly take care
of, enjoy and live integrated with our environment.
Sarah Jane Melvin
Why is the environment important? That question relates to
my past and your future. When I was young I lived on a street
with only seven (7) houses, in Asheville, North Carolina.
These homes were surrounded by a wooded area. In fact, the
forest weaved around the houses, making each house a private
place of enjoyment. I used to walk out the back door and
greet birds, possums, raccoons, deer and even some wild dogs.
The forest was about 100 feet from the houses on all sides. I
thought that my children and my children's children would
always have access to these wonders. That they would have the
opportunity to see the raccoons and possum silently roam the
woods, viewing their habits and feeling the love they have
for their offspring. Watch the squirrels play, hunt and store
their food for winter, maybe even witness a courtship.
I can remember sledding in the summer on pine needles,
laughing with joy. Having marshmallow roast after snow
sledding in the same area. Digging a hole for the fire,
making sure the rock would contain the fire. The older kids
would tend the fires, while the younger kids would gather up
dead wood for the fuel. All of us were taught to respect the
forest, only take what was needed. Our Cherokee friends told
us that the animals that lived there needed the trees, grass,
pine cones, hickory nuts, acorns and even the horse apples.
That the animals needed the trees for protection ass well as
food and the forest needed the animals for its survival too.
Christmas time was always a wondrous time. But we children
would prepare a special treat at that time for our friends.
We would bring out our acorns, hickory nuts, suet and
anything else we found in the forest that animals like. We
would then decorate a pine tree with all this, Christmas Eve.
My father would place a dim light on the tree and we would
watch the animals come to eat and marvel at their quiet and
speedy feast from their special tree.
I had hoped and dreamed that all the children after me
would be able to see these wonders. But no, they are not, for
we have trashed the trees, burned them, cut them, killed them
with our pollution and our wasteful ways. For we destroy
without looking to the future, without thoughts to what will
stand in it's place in years to come. The environment we are
creating is one of steel and plastic walls to contain the
asphalt, gravel and concrete society of the future. We will
live in a sterile society and when we want to show our
children the forests and animals...we will show them a book,
for there will be no forest or animals left.
Other Eco-Essays: