Plastic and Fire Are Ruining My Tuesdays
And every other day that I can’t feel your love
Plastic and fire may not seem that related to you, but the reason we have tons of marine life murdering plastic in the ocean is because we burn fossil fuel to support a destructive world economy.
If you ate lunch today, at least one of you killed a seabird.
2020 has dawned frightfully, what with all the charred kangaroos and koalas, an edging up to world war three, an impeachment trial, and now, the coronavirus making its merry way around the world.
Then there is garbage of every kind strewn about. Oh, yeah, forgot. That’s everyday.
On tortoise, turtles, and garbage all the way down
As happy as I am that Diego, the oversexed Galapagos turtle, has 2,000 children, I am still annoyed with you for your lunch choices. Aaargh.
I get tired of feeling hate, or any kind of resentment, for my species — all of us who carelessly used plastic, or dirty fuel, today. Or any day.
People, it’s home. Love it or leave it. Yet, I always have a spark of hope that enough of us care about a healthier lifestyle, that we can work together for a healthier world.
It’s important that today, you realize you can make a difference. Then, choose according to ethics, values, your self-image, and courage. The bigger your trash footprint, or the bigger your CO2 footprint, the bigger your moral duty.
We have put the convenience of single use plastic ahead of all the wildlife of Earth, and natural habitats that sustain us. The steadily rising oceans are dumping the stuff on our formerly pristine beaches.
Living in Hawaii, there are no clean beaches to sunbathe upon anymore. Tourists, always the green fanatics that they are, are justifiably angry. Who put these sunscreen bottle bits, one legged birds, strangled turtles, and garbage all over the beach?
It’s just that we did, guys.
You can sift through meters of sand, and still find micro-bits of plastic. It’s not turtles, but trash, all the way down.
Pele and her temper, did we piss her off?
I used to go out every Tuesday and gather up plastic garbage from in front of our Tutu’s (grandmothers) front lanai (porch).
But now I note the huge absence of turtles that once floated like giant serene frisbees in Kapoho Bay. I also note the absence of Kapoho Bay.
There is no more Kapoho bay anymore due to Pele’s bad temper. The volcano goddess took out the whole community in 2018. (Look it up; the video footage of our home disappearing under lava is amazing!) However, in the area, there are still some one-legged sea birds I have often seen bobbing about for food, most often because a plastic fishing net, or line encounter, resulted in an involuntary amputation.
It’s one thing when Pele has a little tantrum and destroys everything she built herself. It’s quite another thing when we do it.
We can’t just go on burning pollutants and wombats. So, please earn some love. Do one tiny thing today to reduce your trashy footprint.
Fridays for Future and Tuesday for Tacos
Join Fridays for future, or walk with Jane Fonda for Fire Drill Fridays. But on Tuesdays, you can celebrate with tacos.
Wrappers for tacos usually use less plastic than burgers, or most take-outs. Therefore, eat tacos on Taco Tuesday. If it doesn’t come without plastic, then scowl ominously, scatter plastic cutlery in the air, and storm out of the place with righteous indignation.
Or, maybe just be polite and explain your need for a life sustaining world?
Greta Thunberg and her planetary posse is out to change your world, maybe support them? She spoke at Davos again this year, and her message is the same.
Not enough of you are paying attention. Not enough of us are changing the world simply by using less of it. Take personal responsibility, but also make a big noise demanding more protections on your food, air, water and soil. This requires participation in being We the People.
