Doing Our Part for Conservation

Only when we regard nature as a community to which we belong, rather than a commodity that belongs to us will we make progress in conservation. – Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac, as quoted by Mack Prichard.

I encountered those words while reading The Essential Mack Prichard: Writings of a Conservation Hero. Both Leopold and Prichard were great advocates for conservation. Their example is important to those seeking to protect the natural world today.

Mack quoted an old saying in another of the included essays. “If you want to clean the world, begin by sweeping your own doorstep.” Those words strike home with an issue I have thought about lately. What am I doing for the natural world?

My actions include living within five minutes of my workplace and not flying in airplanes because they have a massive environmental impact. I have a separate essay on transportation, but that is for another time. I also recycle, even though I have heard that most of the materials left at recycling centers end up in landfills. I reduce the number of items I buy packaged in plastic, though alternatives are becoming more difficult to find. My efforts extend beyond those few things, but a few examples show that I am concerned enough about environmental quality to take action in my lifestyle.

I mention my actions because a few years ago, the issue came home to me when I asked about environmental devastation in a “Nature Literature” session at a local conference devoted to Southern Literature.  A woman I do not know, and I am pretty sure she did not know me or my commitment to the environment interrupted the proceedings. “If you don’t recycle and you drive miles to work…” She went on to list several things I should be doing for conservation. They were all things I was already doing.

She disrupted a question-and-answer session and I did not want to add to the chaos, so I remained silent. Nevertheless, one of the panelists also made a snarky comment. Interestingly, he was sitting next to Wendell Berry who has published more than 50 books and has never owned a computer. I have read elsewhere that his wife convinced him that his opposition to strip mining mandated this decision because coal fires the electric power grid in his region.

I had already bought the panelist’s novel but did not get it autographed and have not read it. Then again, I have a backlog of unread books and other books I want to read again. So, his comment about my question may not have influenced my neglect of the novel.

I ponder the question of environmental accountability. While we heed Gandhi’s words to be the change we want to see, do we also advocate for holding business and industry accountable?

Gandhi certainly combined the two approaches. He held himself accountable, but when the British colonial authorities cut off the salt supply, he led a march to the sea to make salt from seawater. He walked through village after village and at each stop, more people joined the throng. At the sea, they made salt and took it home to their villages. They didn’t wait for a response from the British powers that eventually dropped the blockade.

We must follow Gandhi’s example by combining personal accountability with activism. Our earth-friendly lifestyles are undone if business and industry are not held accountable.

Sign

This message brought to you
by the Tennessee Valley Authority
by business, industry, and government
by progress, prosperity, and jobs

Mercury
Its an element 
Its a metal 
Its a liquid 
Its toxic.

Mercury
Its a capsule
launched into space
to splash down
in the Pacific Ocean


Alan Sheppard rode the first
Mercury capsule
into space
splashed down
in the pages of history books

Tennessee River waters contain 
Mercury, 
not the space capsule, 
but the element, 
its a metal 
its a liquid 
its toxic.

Tennessee River fish contain 
Mercury, 
not the space capsule, 
but the element, 
itsx a metal 
its a liquid 
its toxic.

Pregnant women 
should not eat 
these fish.

Nursing mothers 
should not eat 
these fish.

Children 
should not eat 
these fish.

Adult males 
may eat 
these fish.

Women past childbearing age 
may eat 
these fish.

Elderly people 
are encouraged to eat 
these fish.

Homeless people 
are required to eat 
these fish.

That is all. 
Have a nice day.