Hate is such a strong word. I know people say that all the time, but I have to agree that there is not much in this world that I hate. Dislike strongly, yes, but hate. Whoa. Today’s picture is supposed to be of something I hate. As I started to think about what I would write about, I was surprised at how easily it came to me. After all, I really do try to find the good in things. But when the idea struck, I really shouldn’t have been surprised at all. And if you know me , I’m sure you can guess what it is. I hate pollution – the contamination and fouling of our air, water, bodies, all of it. And I also hate those that refuse to see what is happening to the planet. Daily we pump toxins into everything – the water we drink, the air we breathe, the land we walk on and even our own bodies with the processed food we eat and the toxic substances we use to achieve “freshness.”
We kid ourselves into thinking that after a catastrophic event, time will heal everything. And we believe those when they tell us that they are doing everything to better the environment. Green-washing at its best. (Oh this makes me so mad.) We can’t continue to create these situations and expect life to carry on as usual.
There are people out there that are trying to debunk scientific evidence and deregulate agencies that are simply trying to protect the environment (it’s called the EPA for a reason), and I honestly don’t know how those individuals can sleep at night. The push to disprove global climate change is really mind-boggling. And now they are evening funding public and private colleges and universities. Just fantastic. I just feel that all of this time and energy should be focused on moving the country forward in sustainability, not in simply trying to keep us rooted in the now – in a society where our consumption habits are anything but sustainable.
But there needs to be a light at the end of the tunnel – right?! I can drive myself crazy with all of the negativity and I really don’t want to do that. So I will just turn to little glimpses of hope in ways that we can continue to move forward. While this commercial can be argued just another example of greenwashing, I do have a soft spot for the polar bear’s plight. So yes, I do hate the defiling of our planet, but I can hope that we will soon start to focus our energy on ideas that can move us towards a greener, more sustainable future. Here’s to you, Mr. Polar Bear.
