Do the Little Things

I am a conservationist. I am an animal advocate. I am an environmentalist.

I will not apologize for the way I feel, the way I believe, or the way I act. I will continue to write about and post about these issues. I will continue to pick up trash in my neighborhood, trash tossed from car windows by people too lazy to properly dispose of their cans and bottles. I will continue to use reusable grocery bags, eschewing the single-use grocery bags handed out by the billions in this country every year. I will continue to take short showers. I will not own a gas-guzzling car. I will recycle everything I can. I will reuse plastic bread bags and other plastic bags that cannot be recycled. Those bags can be used to pick up dog poop from my yard, or to line small trash cans. 

I will continue to minimize my consumption of animal products. I switched from cow's milk to almond or cashew milk a few years ago. I haven't eaten pork for many years, and I won't eat lamb, veal, wild game or any endangered kind of fish. I enjoy vegetarian sausage and plant-based burgers. Yes, I do still eat cheese (which I love) and yogurt. I am a work in progress.

I will continue to support organizations working to preserve wild areas, and to protect animals such as wolves, bears, lions and elephants. I will continue to oppose trophy hunting or any form of animal killing for fun. I will continue to oppose coyote killing contests, and I will support all efforts to make such spectacles illegal. I will continue to oppose the wearing of fur, whether the fur comes from wild or 'farmed' animals. I try to avoid buying food that contains palm oil, although that blood-tainted oil seems to be everywhere.

I will continue to boycott businesses and states that engage in or encourage animal cruelty. I recently canceled plans to visit Namibia next year after that country sold the rights to murder a well-known bull elephant to a trophy hunter. I stopped visiting Yellowstone National Park, my favorite place in the US to visit, until the states of Montana and Wyoming stop the slaughter of wolves to placate the cattle industry. Do my boycotts change anything? Do they have an impact? On their own, probably not. But if enough people join the boycott, we may have an impact.

All these things I do are easily accomplished. It takes no effort to pick up and dispose of a can or bottle thrown from a car window. It takes no effort to throw paper into a paper bag for recycling. It takes no time to have my groceries packed into reusable bags. If enough people do little things, the impact can be huge. 

There are many people who do so much more than I do. Some have given up their cars, while others follow a vegan lifestyle. I do what I can. As I get older, I find it easier to give up some of the things I used to love, for the greater good. As I move farther into the sunset of my life, I worry more about my impact on this planet and the beings -- plant and animal -- that share the world with me.

Please join me and help save the only planet at this point able to sustain life. If we all do the little things, we can make a big impact.