Today is Blog Action Day, where all bloggers are encouraged to write about one single issue in the world today to raise awareness. As I approach the anniversary of the Great Lakes Green Pages, I wonder what is the one issue I should concentrate on. The result is that there are just too many. Instead, since I generally write about issues to raise awareness, I decided to list just a few of the many issues that are close to my heart.
Recycling, litter and garbage: Let’s face it, we are awash in garbage. We have chosen cheaper and cheaper packaging that doesn’t break down in the landfill. After nearly four decades of awareness of litter problems, we still haven’t learned. We like to think that we are the greatest country in the world, but we continue to follow the leadership in Europe on recycling, reuse, and waste reduction. We live in a throw away society, and are filling our planet with garbage at an alarming rate. We continue to tear down perfectly good structures, rather than rehabbing and make them usable, generating more garbage.
Poverty and hunger The world is growing. The population is increasing. Our resources are not. We have been the richest most prosperous nation in the world after WWII. Still, we haven’t figured out a way to make sure that every citizen in our own country has food to eat. Furthermore, our reliance on corporations for our food supply has lead to limited availability of nutritious food in poorer neighborhoods. What food is available, it is more expensive. Eating healthier is much more expensive than eating poorly, which leads to those who have less resources to have more health issues.
Education Our education system in this country is failing us. We are continuously graduating students who do not have a basic understanding of history, math, economics, etc. This leads more people to be uninformed on the issues that are facing us. Those who are well educated continue to hold the power over the undereducated.
Crumbling US infrastructure We have stopped spending adequate money on roads, bridges, and transit. That means that many of the structures around the country are crumbling and falling apart. Hard to believe? Look around Cleveland. How much concrete fell off the Fulton Street bridge before it was closed. Anyone who went to the zoo for the decade before it closed can attest to how scary it looked as chunks would fall day and night. The I-90 bridge is dangerously damaged. Rather than jump right on it, we are closing lanes and on/off ramps to try and prolong the inevitable until we have just the right plan in place. All the while, I fear a collapse the size of Minneapolis.
Global Warming We are pumping CO2 into the atmosphere at a rate so high that we may not be able to recover. Still, we are on our third or fourth generation of Hummer.
Endangered Species Tons of animals are disappearing every day due to habitat destruction, over fishing, over hunting and poaching.
With so many issues affecting us every day, what are you gonna do to try and help the situation that we have gotten ourselves in.
Tags: conservation, environment, planet, recycling
