BLOG ACTION DAY: Environment

WELCOME TO BLOG ACTION DAY ON CLICK THE GOOD NEWS!

I've been thinking over the past week what could my little contribution be to the environment. I hope that my post a few days ago inspired others to join me & I look forward to the overwhelming environmental blog posts today. I'll start out with my own personal story and the evolution of my beliefs on the environment.

Being a child of the 80's, I grew up in the birth of the environmental revolution. We were educated to casually recycle paper and cans, occasionally reminded of the Earth through some Greenpeace outburst of violence on the news and generally taught to fear more for our own personal well-being by the dangers of cell-phone cancer or harmful pesticides. I did my tiny little part to recycle- filling up the green bucket that came with my house, and going on about my merry capitalistic, consumption-filled lifestyle. It's only in the past three years that I can no longer live in denial that my measly efforts are nearly enough to counter-act all the stress & strain that I, an ordinary American, put on our environment.

In many ways, my feelings towards the environment are intertwined with 3 other things that are previous in my life- my money, my faith and my camera. As I recently discussed how the book Your Money or Your Life has changed my views on consumption and spending, it's also shifted the framework in which I make decisions to pursue our American Dream of ever increasing material goods and endless cycles of waste. So from a purely conservation standpoint, it makes sense to factor less consumption into my financial plans.

I believe that having my camera and my blog as an outlet that has made me more sensitive to local destruction of my environment. There is a new movement in the photography arena to push conservation photography, who tout the idea that publicity of endangered animals, lands and indigenous people will both document the quickly collapsing eco-systems and bring much needed attention and compassion to their plight. The out-of-control growth of Houston means that the urban sprawl is quickly creeping in on my little world. I hate seeing new construction sights, fewer trees and more traffic congestion. Today's photos are various footprints- 2 of mine and 1 footprint of numerous airplanes on the runway.

Finally, I tag blogs about the environment with "faith". In the past few years, I've begun to realize that there is a Biblical command to take care of the earth. Though books and reading, taking care of the precious natural resources and animals on this planet isn't an environmental issue, it's a Christian issue. Reading in Genesis, I realize that God gave us the Earth to care for and to keep. It doesn't say squander or abuse or destroy, so I believe that we will each give an account on the day of judgement for how we have cared for the gifts God gave to us.

I know it's not much, and I search for ways to do more things that actually have an impact. I don't think there will be 1 thing I do for the environment, but rather dozens of changes I make daily to my lifestyle that will being to decrease my footprint. I think the most important thing I can focus on now is education- sharing my views about conservation and explaining my passion to be more environmentally conscious to my friends and family.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: It's not too late to alter the course of environmental destruction.