Generations to Come
“A true conservationist is a man who knows that the world is not given by his fathers but borrowed from his children”- John James Audubon
Everything we do today affects the world tomorrow. On a small scale, the one hour I spend on my phone before sleeping affects my willingness to be alive tomorrow. On a much larger, and more important scale, the environmental decisions we make today affect the world as a whole. Making the decision to replant trees does not give society an immediate reward. The changes we make today to improve the world will not change anything in our lifetimes. The changes we make to our lifestyles and treatment of the natural world will change the world for generations to come.
My family and I go hiking a lot. Matter of fact during our last family vacation we hiked over 100 miles in two weeks. (We quite literally did nothing other than hiking on the entire trip…) I adore hiking no matter where I go and will choose hiking over going just about anywhere. I usually go out of my way to walk further than I have to just because I find it so peaceful (not in Troy though, I’ve gotten wayyyyyy too close to being run over by idiot drivers not checking the road especially when taking right turns.) Nature has always been something very important to me, especially with the urgent nature of its destruction today. When I go hiking in State and National Parks I always think about the protections Teddy Roosevelt put in place. The trails I enjoy so much would not exist without his legislation. The bills he put forward in his life did not change his access to the natural world significantly. However, they are the reason I am able to access to what I have now.
In the same way, the changes we make both personally and through legislation today will not make an immediate impact on the natural world. The damage we have done to Earth has taken many years and will take many more years to repair. However, we must start as soon as possible. Everything we do will outlive us. What we do today dictates the world out children will grow up in.
I think that everyone is probably like "yeah, that's obvious, I know" but it's still a message that needs to be spread even though it seems like common sense, so I liked that! I also found it so cool how you hiked 100 miles in 2 weeks!! :)
ReplyDeleteThis is a really important message. At the end of the day, I think it comes down to how willing we are to preserve the world we have today for future generations. There are a lot of people who lack the empathy to care about the conservation of both the environment and humanity.
ReplyDeleteThis was really enjoyable to read and the way you pieced all your different types of argument together really make your message clear. This was a great blog, good job!
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