Earth Day

Please enjoy my pictures as these were taken in protected gardens where gardeners take special care of the plants and grounds, one day we may not have this luxury....

Today I want to comment about something we should all feel passionate about and that's saving our Earth.  I remember back when Earth Day was a special day to recognize our Earth and its need to be saved from pollutants and the mountains of trash we produce everyday.  Some how over the last decade or two we've lost the interest in saving our Earth, thinking that maybe recycling is enough.  That's our pathetic solution, just to recycle or reuse/re purpose something whether it's an item of clothing or using a jam jar for a handful of nails in the garage.  Don't get me wrong, I recycle and have actively recycled for 35 years, since recycling was started in the area I live in.  But, somehow it has become OK to buy a crate of plastic bottled water because in the end the bottle will be recycled.  Over the course we have lost the 3rd part of the system and that is REDUCING.   

BBC showed a special report on the region in Indonesia near textile plants and the effects on the local community of dumping in the river near homes that use the water on a daily basis.  It was appalling. It literally made me sick to my stomach to see these poor people being subjected to using polluted water to drink, cook and  bathe with which had sewage and dye from the textile industry dumping into the same water.  Local fish and game were certainly affected by the pollution.  One fisherman no longer catches fish as they are all dead, the oxygen being depleted from the water, but he "fishes" for plastic to sell at the recycling plant.   They reported that there are federal sanctions on dumping in place, but their government does not take action against it forcing some local families to take their own futile actions trying to stop dumping by plugging up the drainage pipes from the textile plants.  In turn, this does no good for them as they are unblocked and continue to carry on their processing.  Batiks are big industry and we all love them, but at what price?  When will enough be enough?  What is it going to take to make anyone realize what is truly going on?   I watched in horror this morning as the news reported as a matter of factly, the oil slick surrounding the ferry disaster near South Korea.  Hundreds of students and people lost their lives in this disaster and now the oil slick is being swept across the yellow sea and out to the ocean.   The Malaysia flight 370 disaster in March is still lost and early on they investigated the southern area off China and discovered a "large oil slick", but later was ruled out as the site of that disaster, just another oil slick.   Satellites have reported back with debris in several areas off the Australian coast and Indian Ocean, some were ruled out as whale carcasses, but others just debris not related to an airplane disaster.  How much debris is floating in our seas? 

This is my rant today, I am sticking up for the Earth.  Everyone needs to recycle, reuse/re purpose and REDUCE in order for it to really matter.  Be an advocate for stopping the use of plastic carrier bags.  Please visit morsbags.com today to make your own bags, or create your own pod and get your friends to make some.  Organize give away days in your community to make people aware of the dangers of waste in our waterways.  Start using products that have been recycled like the Dream Green batting made from plastic bottles.  This is just one SMALL way to take action, but it is a start.  Reduce your waste by composting if you have the means.   Sell back your old clothing to the rag and bone man or give to your charity shop.  They take nearly everything as long as it is still in working order, not stained or excessively worn/torn. On the other hand, if you do have some textiles not good enough to donate, make something yourself, I am in the process of making rag rugs from old torn jeans.  Search the internet for further inspiration on re purposing your items.  Or see the link above on the  morsbags.   Let's make everyday a "Happy" Earth Day!