On Being A Good Steward of Earth: Reflections
September 26, 2007
I went kayaking on the pond yesterday afternoon to enjoy some of the first autumn colors. Unfortunately, my attention was continually diverted to all the trash that people (mostly fisherfolk) left behind after pursuing their avocation. I do pond cleanup every couple of months from ice-out to ice-in. If I didn’t do this regularly, the pond would be a disaster area (I remember the first trash pickup I did on the pond 7 years ago yielded about 30 pounds of trash.) So, being the only steward of the pond that I know of, I picked up trash for a few hours; bottles here, cans there, some fishing line with hook attached, lures with hooks, lures without hooks, bobbers, and more bobbers, bait containers, and food wrappers strewn hither and yon, from the shore’s edge to several feet underwater.
As I was paddling and searching for trash, I thought of Aristotle who wrote, “that which is common to the greatest number [of people] has the least care bestowed upon it.” How true it is…and this quote from a man who lived from 384 BC to 322 BC. It seems that Man has not evolved much in terms of caring for the Earth over all these years. And, as our population blossoms, more and more trash gets left behind. Oh, how I pray for social responsibility to take hold of the masses as the Earth heads toward massive over population. Each one of us must do our best to take care of our precious little piece of the planet. Hmmm…my students would tell you that we should all be interacting parts that act as a whole, a system of humanity that strives to save the only planet we will ever have the pleasure to live on and call home. If only this were so…
