I Believe the Children Are Our Future

The duty of reducing one's carbon footprint is a new concept, unseen and mere generations ago. Our most recent ancestors didn't have to consider the condition of the planet or the effects their living may be having on the well-being of future generations. While they wasted anything and found new uses for items that would otherwise be discarded as trash, this was a direct result of the mental strain endured throughout The Great Depression. That era shaped them into waste not, want not people, and they did all they could to they always had what they needed even when it seemed silly to the next generations. We would snicker as they unwrapped their gifts, folding the paper ever so gingerly, so that they could reuse the wrapping paper when their turn to a gift on someone. Watching them rinse off used aluminum foil or plastic margarine containers food storage was with eye-rolling and snide comments about how cheaply those items are available at the store. Our elder generation had down of the 3Rs - reduce, reuse, and recycle. The other two Rs, , were not on their radars. The concept of recycling was unbeknownst to them. To think of placing certain trash items in a container at the end of your driveway so that a special truck could come gather them to take them to a special facility where they would be cleaned and treated in some way so that they might be used again to create something else was never heard of in their lifetime. Reducing waste was also not something that would have made any sense to them. Hard-working and determined people, the end would always justify the means. They didn't have the luxury of information at their fingertips. Whatever needed to take place to reach their goals is what would take place. This was true with the boom of The Industrial Revolution. No executive or employee ever questioned what damage may come of dumping waste into the nearby waterway. The amount of smoke billowing from the smokestack was of no concern to air quality or the health of the people. not until they began to see the consequences firsthand that anyone surmised the possibility of the dangers and even then the reigned supreme over the well-being of a ecosystems.

People who fall into the end of the age range for Gen-X were the first to be educated about preserving the earth and taking care of our environment. I vividly remember sitting in my elementary school science class and being so afraid of smog, holes in the ozone layer, and running out of resources. It all sounded so serious and final. My anxious adolescent brain was sure that we would go the way of the dinosaurs before I was able to reach adulthood. I remember loading up our recyclable items with pride to take to the recycle bin that was in the parking lot of the grocery store in our small, southern town. Mom would make sure she rinsed each item so that it would be acceptable at the recycling plant. We would sort items and categorize them so that we could make sure they made it into the correct bin sections. all so simple and basic, but we felt like we were doing our part to make our planet sustainable. Any propaganda I saw would tug at my sensitive heart strings. I would make sure the plastic binders from soda six packs were so that no animal would somehow become entangled after I saw pictures of animals who had somehow encountered these and were now walking around with them as a new appendage. The oil spills that covered the animals that had to be washed with special soap to remove the pollution baffled my mind. How could the actions of mankind lead to such unfortunate events? New studies would lead to more information and suggested protective methods almost constantly and our generation began to embrace it with pride.

As far as everything has come, still a long way to go. My plan to reduce my carbon footprint lies within the walls of my humble abode. I will train my children about the importance of reducing the waste and pollution we create as a family. Every opportunity I see to educate them about ways to lessen their personal impact on the environment will be a teachable moment. Being self-aware of one's carbon footprint if the main to creating a world that is sustainable and healthy for all. It sounds overly simplified. I don't have some grandiose plan that will somehow end the polluting of our oceans. I will not at any point create something that save dolphins or removes debris from the deepest chasms of the Pacific. can, , guarantee you that none of my household will and ignorantly contribute to the destruction of any ecosystem. While we may be a family of five now, my children will leave our home and create families of their own. They will take postulations that have become dear to them and pass them to the next generation. Each generation will in turn do the same, they will have even more knowledge and skills to pass along making this fight to save our planet increasingly intellectual and successful.

Like any movement, it begins with one. One person willing to take a stand and encourage others to follow suit. As a human race, we have to decide that the children hold the keys to a healthy future. We have to set the example and teach them to focus on creating positive changes like their lives depend on it...because they do.