Jordyn Aldrich

ENGL 2010
Position/Proposal
4/8/16
Spare Some Change
Since April 22, 1970, the first nationally recognized Earth Day, there has been a battle
amongst the believers and the non-believers that there are
environmental change occurring, not just in the United States but, in
the world. A few topics of conversation, regarding this constant battle
are things along the lines of rise in the sea level, the melting of snow
caps, the release of greenhouse gases, oil spills, the endangerment of
many species, as well as several other topics.
The stories in the news that I am most familiar with are those that consist of
environmental activist being arrested, big companies hiding harmful facts from the public, oil
spills in the ocean, amongst many others. There has become a rise in awareness and more
attention brought to light about the severity of the situation but hearing things like recycle
more, less plastic, no more chemicals, etc., become white noise after hearing them for so
long.
The day-to-day living of civilized human beings requires a great amount of resources
to complete any task. On the daily, we consume food, air, electricity, minerals, water, resources,
etc., in fashion or another. The issue here being that these resources are being taken away from
the earth but nothing is being done to replenish what has been taken away. Up until recent years,
there has not been much emphases on the alarming issues other than activist who have been

labeled as hippies or liberals when in reality theyre sharing the facts that we, the world, do
not want to acknowledge.
An article I read about the waste in the United Sates, written by Michael Kraft, stated,
The amount of municipal solid waste produced annually in the United States has tripled since
1960, and in 2013, it totaled 254 million tons. That's 4.4 pounds per person every day (Kraft).
He also shared the astonishing fact that we produce twice as much waste per capita as Western
European nations (Kraft). After reading this fact, I began to question if there is so much waste,
where does it all go? Kraft explains that, we Americans consume a lot and waste a lot. That
means we dump far more trash than is necessary into landfills (Kraft).
As I let this information sink in, I could not help but ask why does this have to be an
issue? There are many places to buy compost bins, there are recycling centers all around, why
does there have to be so much waste? According to Kraft, Individual habits are one
explanation (Kraft). He goes on to explain, A number of states mandate recycling, but they
don't enforce their laws, and in most cases they offer few incentives to recycle (Kraft). Kraft
then provides the reasoning behind this and states, They argue that recycling is too costly and
ineffective to continue and, cities should terminate their programs or pay for the cost
themselves (Kraft).
Unfortunately, the situation is not limited to waste nor just the United States; greenhouses
gasses are another major topic of conversation. According to Darryl Fears, research has shown
that, the wealthiest 4 percent of the world's population is creating 50 percent of the greenhouse
gas emissions (Fears).

The term greenhouses gases is simply a fancy name for pollution. Fears talks about
how the greenhouses gases

come to be by explaining that,

air pollution is made up of fine

particulate matter from power

generation, transportation and

open burning (Fears). He then

explains, Household pollution

is created by stoves that burn

coal, wood and animal dung for

cooking and heat (Fears).

One of the reasons that makes the pollution such an issue is about 5.5 million people
around the world die prematurely every year from breathing polluted air (Fears). Lisa Suhays
article quotes Dr. James E. M. Watson, author of "Global mismatch between greenhouse gas
emissions and the burden of climate change", as he refers to the highest emitting countries, such
as the US, Canada, Australia, China, and much of Western Europe as smokers (Suhay).
Through Suhays interview with Dr. Watson, he goes on to explain that developing
nations find themselves in a scenario that is like a non-smoker getting [diagnosed with] cancer
from second-hand smoke, while the heavy smokers continue to puff away (Suhay). This
accusation, whilst seemingly harsh, proves true with facts.
Fears article reports several numbers, from a recent study, dealing with pollution around
the world. He shares that the daily intake of the polluted air can lead to heart attacks and
strokes (Fears). For me, the astonishment did not come from this information, it came when I
read that nearly 1 million people die annually from these causes in China, more than a halfmillion die in India, and nearly 300,000 die in the United States and European Union countries
(Fears).

Fears goes on to explain the reason behind the increased numbers in China and India is
traced back to where factories and coal-fired power plants are fueling economic growth
(Fears); these facts are only covering a small portion of the causes of the greenhouse gases and
hardly touches the issues at hand.
Although these facts were overwhelming for me to read, I found solace in the information
between these lines. For example, according to Kraft, Seattle had a 50 percent recycling rate in
2014, and 71 percent for single family households, and the rate continues to improve (Kraft),
and, The city has set a goal of eliminating the "maximum possible amount of waste" (Kraft).
However, Seattle isnt the only city trying to get in the recycling game. Kraft shares, The
Environmental Protection Agency reports that we recycle 99 percent of lead acid batteries, 67
percent of paper, and 55 percent of aluminum cans (Kraft). The downside of this report is, only
40 percent of the rapidly increasing quantity of consumer electronics such as cell phones and
computers, only 34 percent of glass containers, and 30 percent of plastic bottles and jars (Kraft).
Regarding the topic of greenhouse gases, there is more good news. Fears shares that from
our end of the issue, The United States continues to push for lower emissions from automobile
traffic (Fears), but it doesnt stop there. He also tells that the United States, has imposed
stronger rules on industry, such as cement plants and those that generate electricity from coal
(Fears).
From a global stance, Fears explains, The Chinese government is moving aggressively
to improve air quality by forcing automobiles there to be equipped with cleaner technology
(Fears), as well as forcing power plants to lower the amount of particulates they spew (Fears).
While it might not seem as if a lot if being done, there are at least steps moving forward.

The truth is that I didnt care too much before to spend my valuable and limited time, my
egocentric perspective, to look into what was really going. It might have been a subconscious
decision; somewhere deep down I knew that what I would learn would be terrifying and that Id
rather keep my ignorance. We cant be held accountable for what we dont know, right?
But then, I began to take a real look at the world around me, the beauty and wonder of
my surroundings, and I decided to look what the fuss was all about. My fears where being
revealed as the reality of the situation began to sink in. The everything is fine fantasy I was
living in has sense then become a dream. Nothing that I own is worth the life of another and yet,
everything I own has brought death. So, where do I go from here?
The catch with this situation is that it didnt begin overnight. The most frightening side of
the problem is that it isnt going to change overnight and we live in a world that wants immediate
results or the towel get thrown in. I battled with research on this topic; the more I began to read
and know, the more I wanted to go hid until someone came up with an idea to help better the
global warming chaos.
I interviewed my friend, Scott Hickey, who
is a counselor for a wilderness therapy
organization called Outback Treatment. When I
asked Scott what the program was about, he
told me, It is a program that helps troubled
teens, from ages 13-17, by incorporating
wilderness therapy with non-resistant tactics. We talked for a few hours about his journey
through this organization and how it has truly changed his life. I became very intrigued by
everything he was telling me and wanted to know more.

Scott kept calling it a journey and so I asked, what is your favorite part of this
journey? Before he responded, I had all of this information and facts just swimming through my
head, terrifying me and eating away at my heart. Im sitting here listening to my friend tell me
about how much he loves his job in the wild and all I could think about was how its all going to
be gone before we know it.
His reply to my question changes it all for me; he said, The fact that its a journey is the
best part. He paused for a brief moment, then continued with, We take these young adults who
need attention and direction and we use the absolute wonder of nature to bring them to their most
raw and true self. After he said that, something ignited in my heart and my spirit was lifted
because I felt a sense of hope.
Shortly after my chat with Scott, I watched the movie Wild. This movie was about a
young women in need of a complete makeover of her life. She set out to hike the Pacific Crest
Trail, by herself, for months until she finished. Throughout the movie, I watched this broken girl
transform into this incredibly strong women. She let nature work through her and this is
something that I think we could all make a shift towards in one way or another.
It doesnt have to be some elaborate life change that needs to be made in order to help
preserve the wonder of the earth around us. These changes are simple things like recycling,
reducing waste, keeping lights and water off as much as possible, less automotive transportation,
and being creative with the waste that cant be avoided. Even simply being educated about where
things come from, how they are made, who is affected by the production of this product, etc. are
going to spark thoughts, concerns, and awareness with the world.

You see, before I found myself observing everything around me with a sense of
annoyance and judgement; however, after Scott shared that with me, I realized that there is time.
As I stated before, this didnt happen overnight, and yes, there is a whole lot of a mess to fix, but
it can happen. The lives of these children are being put together, they are growing to feel
complete and capable because of the magic that nature has to offer.
Hearing the stories of the resilience of these humans reminded me of the resilience in
each and every one of us. I was scared to learn because something inside of me already knew
that things are not right. We all have a connection with this world, which is why people find
healing in the midst of the wild.
There is a Greek proverb that strongly resonates with me that says, A society grows
great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in (Thinkexist.com).
As I said before, this didnt happen overnight and it surely will not be fixed overnight; however,
the false sense of reality that we try to hide in is going to disappear before we know it, leaving a
wake of death and destruction in its path.
It starts with knowledge about the issues and how
we impact them individually. I know that I cant control a
single person other than myself so I have to be the best
that I can be to change what I can. This change is about
ensuring life and health for our fellow humans today, as
well as our childrens children in days to come.

Work Cited

Fears, Darryl. "More Than 5 Million People a Year Will Die from Polluted Air." Washington
Post. 14 Feb. 2016: A.3. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 22 Mar. 2016.
"Greek Proverb Quotes." Thinkexist.com. ThinkExist, n.d. Web. 29 Mar. 2016.
Kraft, Michael E. "The US Remains the Most Wasteful Nation on Earth." McClatchy - Tribune
News Service. 17 Dec. 2015: n/a. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 25 Mar. 2016.
Suhay, Lisa. "Study Points to Developing World Feeling More Impact from Climate..." Christian
Science Monitor. 05 Feb. 2016: n/a. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 25 Mar. 2016.