It's so difficult not to become angry about what's happening in the Gulf of Mexico, even though, in some highly ignored part of my mind, I know that frustration and ranting (however much ranting helps me) isn't going to accomplish anything. It's very hard to know how much is getting done in terms of rescuing and cleaning birds, because it seems that once they are released back into the wild, they have no place to go, and simply get covered in oil again.
I suppose optimism would be saying, "well, BP made a huge mistake, but there's nothing we as a people can do to change the past, so we must deal with whatever comes." But how can we actually help? For myself, I'm too far away to help firsthand, which is what I would like to be doing. Maybe refusing to use gas would be a good start, but my immediate family uses so little anyway, and I can't block it out completely.
This is a terrible time to grow up in. To not get bogged down in the details of the tragedies people (largely big companies, with money-making their single goal) commit, however mistakenly or ignorantly, against a planet that is the most beautiful and the only home we have, is a real effort. I'm not good at that myself, because it often seems hopelessly out of control. Although becoming a successful scientist or naturalist orator would be good, I do not think I would want to give my life to that, which is selfish I suppose, but I have my own goals to take into consideration and work toward as well.
I do think that if everyone does their own small part that the masses can make a difference, but the long standing problem of countless causes is this: how to reach the masses in an effective, knowledgeable way. Here, Facebook plays a major role, and however much it can be irrationally addicting, it seems to be the biggest online community network in the world, with over 400 million users worldwide, and 70% of these users are outside the United States.
The following is a sad link, but we might as well become as aware as possible, and maybe if this is posted on Facebook, people will pass it around and find solutions. Please e-mail me back about this disaster, if you have updates on the Gulf Oil Spill, or ideas about how to help at a distance. I have also provided a link to nationalgeographic.com, with some short, fun quizzes that offer tips on how to save water, energy, and gas in your everyday life. It isn't that hard to make small changes in habit, whether it's bringing your own cloth bags to the store or driving at 55 mph.
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