Plastic or paper? No because you know better

In the spring of 1970, 20 million people from all over the country showed their support for the planet by engaging in environmental educational workshops. They sat in high school gymnasiums, public parks and places of worship. These people set the stage for groundbreaking legislation: the Clean Air Act of 1970, dedicated to protecting and improving air quality, the Clean Water Act of 1972, which regulated the amount of pollutants discharged in our water and preserved the quality of our surface waters; and the Endangered Species Act of 1973, designed to conserve plants and animals in danger of dwindling or disappearing.

Today, in California, although we understand what reducing, reusing or recycling means, the environmental activism movement continues to push for a way to redefine how we live in the golden state as they see these legislative victories under threat. Carcinogens from oil refineries flood our waters while polluting factories compromise our air. The communities that lack political and economic clout and the communities of non-Caucasian citizens are where most of the toxic industries are located. These areas are filled with children growing up with the normality of having asthma as these communities are increasingly toxic.

Small changes are important first steps but the environmental activism movement is a platform to ignite citizens to understand that everything we care about exists within our ecosystem and if we disregard or damage it, everything we love is at risk. Gone are the days when dropping off your recycling, weather stripping your windows or stopping the use of plastic bottles is good enough. The environmental activism movement is not satisfied with a select few hearing their message. The movement is about going green for all. In order to bring more people into the conversation, all citizens need to understand what we really care about and what we are willing to sacrifice to achieve a lasting consensus to save Mother Earth.

The Great Dying, Recognizing Culture

The Great Dying continues to linger in mind. Why as a country have we not talked about this more? It’s really crazy when I think about how often we try and point the finger at other countries behaving badly but fail to acknowledge are success was built on some of the worst tragedies.

 Native Americans welcomed Europeans who came to America, but were then betrayed and viewed as savages by these newcomers. For that reason, their culture, their arts, their status as human beings was given no value. The consequences over time were literally crushing for American Indian civilizations.

In the 1800s, the government forced Native Americans from their lands onto barren reservations. These desolate places were never intended to be economically viable and became areas of intense poverty. Obviously and purposefully the white-controlled government wanted Indian cultures broken up. Breaking up the land base was one way of doing that, because of the spiritual attachment to the lands on which Indians lived.

The government required written permission for Native Americans to leave reservations and outlawed their religions. The government promised in treaties to protect the rights of Native Americans and provide them with food, health services and education, but these treaties were not honored.

Boarding schools were established as the government's attempt to civilize the Native American children according to Western culture. Children as young as four years old were taken away from their families and sent hundreds of miles away for months or years at a time.

In order for healing to occur, non-Native Americans need to acknowledge what has happened. Only in the past half- decade has the government made any effort to formally apologize. But what is most important is that people begin to know and understand more. We need to understand not only what happened, but the great contributions that Native Americans have made to everything we call civilization or culture in this country.