Happy Earth Day

Sitting at my desk this evening looking out the window I see two deer browsing in the back field. Two ducks fly overhead, and to be honest, I couldn’t tell you what kind they are. In the last twenty minutes I’ve watched gray, black, and red squirrels run around the yard while a mourning dove coos. I have to tell you I really enjoy it. Watching the wildlife roam free made me think a bit more about Earth Day. To be honest I didn’t know it was Earth Day until the Face Book machine told me it was this morning. I had to tap into the google brain and do a little research to get the history and meaning behind the day. I won’t bore you with the facts, figures and political blah, blah, blah that it revealed to me. You can find that out for yourself. So staring at the deer I thought about what it means to me and what impact I can have on this beautiful planet.

Reflecting on myself the first thing I realize is I am a bit of a hypocrite. I recycle as much as I can but as soon as the residual peanut butter doesn’t come out of the jar, I toss it in the trash. I try to preach to my children to turn off their lights and computers, yet I leave two night lights on all night while I sleep the night away. I leave the water running while I brush my teeth, and I occasionally take too long in a nice, hot shower but I try to use tap water and a glass instead of a bottle of water. I will drive my gas guzzling Ford F-250 an hour just to go for a walk in the woods. I’ve driven two hours to purchase a bicycle so I can ride it to work (on nice days). Yeah, I’d say I’m a bit of a hypocrite when it comes to the way I treat Planet Earth. Still, I feel a deep connection with the natural world. A world that I want to remain clean and healthy for all wild creatures. I want our oceans clean for the whales, sharks, manatees, shrimp, and plankton. I want wild places for the bears, deer, skunks, and bugs to roam. Streams that flow peacefully for our trout, bass, and chubbs. Mountain trails free from litter and waste. Rivers that can be swam in and rowed upon. Roads that aren’t lined with bags of garbage and empty beer cans.

So what can a person do to help keep our planet clean? I’m not talking about some big time politician with grand plans and empty promises. Not some scientist that's going to invent the next earth saving gimmick. I’m talking about the average Joe like me that just wants to see our planet healthy and clean. I think we can take some simple steps. First of all, let’s pick up a little trash around our little slice of heaven. How many times have we seen litter that's blown into our yard or onto the street near our house and ignored it? Let's pick it up. Let’s try to recycle a few more items in hopes that it actually makes it back into an item that can be used again. Just maybe take a walk to work a few times instead of driving the mile to the office. Let’s try to remember to turn off the water while brushing our teeth. Pick up that piece of fishing line that's sitting on the river bank. Maybe try those new environmentally friendly copper rounds instead of slinging lead to our quarry. Are these going to save planet Earth entirely? Probably not.

But it can have an impact on our streets, neighborhoods, and community. If just a few people in every community did a few small things it could have an impact on our lakes, streams, mountains, and wild landscapes. I ask that you just try. I am going to make a conscious effort to do my part to make our land a little cleaner and a little healthier. Let’s all admit everyone hates those darn paper straws, ya know, the ones that self-destruct half way through your drink. As much as we hate them, they are not sitting taking up space in our landfills and they do not need to go to a recycling facility to be processed. They just disappear. Maybe they aren’t so bad after all.

Aaron Hardy

Northern NY Adventures