The Environment

Hello Everyone!


This nature chat I'm mixing it up a little. I'll go back to talking about plants and animals later but right now I am just going to talk about my ideas and knowledge. I am a science nerd and hope to spend my life dedicated to science but I am also a writer. Yes it is an odd combination but it allowed me to write this blog and convey the importance of nature, and the organisms in it, to you guys.

When I was little I would created letters to the president. I would climb up my tree, with my cassette player clipped to my shorts and paper and markers tucked under my chin. I would fold the paper in half (hot dog style) and, every time, draw the earth on the front with my blue and green markers. On the inside I would write something like "Dear Mr. President, please save our earth. It needs our help. Kimi" in black marker. I never did anything with them except stuff them in a drawer. Recently I found one stuffed between yearbooks. It brought up childhood memories and made me smile but it also reminded me of something important. I always tried to help the earth, even from a young age, but I never really did anything. Yes, I wrote those letters and I wanted to help but I wasn't changing anything I wasn't starting anything important. I guess that's all I could have done at age five but now I'm 16, I should be doing something now. It's no longer okay for me to try to help, I must help. That's no different from everyone else. At first one can only try to help
and learn about the cause. This "stage" may take a year or two or even five but then it is time to move on. Then it is time to actually start doing something, even if it is small.

As a teenager my life is busy with school, college applications, sports, etc., but this isn't an excuse, it's more of a limitation. I don't have a lot of time to dedicate to nature, so I found something that doesn't take that much time each day. I teach people. This blog is one way I do that. I mean, even if only one person reads it, I have taught someone. Now that person can go and teach another person, and slowly a chain reaction has started. It's simple and effective and it is pretty easy. But I don't just teach on my blog, I teach my friends, my parents, sometimes even people I hardly know. Weaving environmental activism and little nature facts here and there into conversations is fun. I like sharing my knowledge and ideas with people. Maybe they won't always be interested in what I am saying but eventually some of it will be retained and maybe they will pass it onto other people.

What I am trying to say, I guess, is that helping the environment will take time, it will be a hard process. But we, as a community, as a nation, as a world, need to get past this "trying to help" phase we are caught in. We've allowed ourselves to flounder in the response of "what can I do? I'm only one person" and nothing has happened. We have take action and everyone can help by spreading the word. People don't know about the issues, people don't know what is occurring, people just aren't informed.

For years, people have been protesting, spreading the word, getting organized, changing how we live and dedicating their lives to helping the environment. People have gone to the extremes, written books and poems, and taught the public what they believe and have learned. I'm not saying we all need to dedicate our entire lives to this cause, because not everyone can or needs to. I'm saying that we all just need to get involved, be aware and do what we can.

I hope you enjoyed this nature chat.
Stay tuned for more,
KZ