Happy Earth Day! Wouldn't it be great if Earth Day was celebrated around the world? After all, a day in which we appreciate this "rock" spinning in space that supports our life would be wonderful - we take so much for granted. While I'm a huge fan of the Earth and efforts to be more responsible in its care, I do wonder if once again it is going to become another day holiday that businesses will use to their advantage as a reason for self publicity. Silly me, of course it is! But back to the star of today, the earth.
The Earth is such an amazing planet - it's fully of fire and ice, hardness and softness, gases and liquids, bounty and barren...basically the yin and yang. It shows that all of these things, no matter how different, have a place and are the true foundations of the planet.
I love nature and I've spent a lot of time outdoors and traveling. I've seen all seven continents, been to both the Arctic and Antarctic, I've camped in the Serengeti and learned how to track in Zimbabwe. I've experienced altitude sickness in Tibet, spent a week in a tent in the Gobi desert in Mongolia along side nomads, gone black water rafting in caves in New Zealand and snorkeled the Great Barrier Reef. I've seen the Terra Cotta Warriors in China, pyramids in Mexico, the Andes in Chile, the amazing architecture of Europe, the power of Victoria Falls, the expansiveness of the Grand Canyon and yearn to see so much more. I've experienced the kindness of strangers and seen first hand the brutality of man against man. I've seen incredible sunsets and have waited in the darkness for the sun to shoot its first rays of light. I've seen fierce weather and amazing clouds. I've experienced the snow of the Alps, the sun of the tropics and seen the sun never really set in the Arctics. All of these incredible experiences and sights are in my head and are the small puzzle pieces of my life.
We live in a world of beautiful diversity with incredible resilience. We've created some incredible architecture and ingenious gadgets (the ingredients of which come from the earth.) We can plant seeds and grow food. All of these beautiful and incredible things then contrast against the negatives. Rather than get weighed down but the negatives (because most of us know what they are), there is one negative that I do want to talk about - fracking.
For those who may not know, "fracking" is what they call hydraulic fracturing. According to wikipedia, Fracturing [or fracking] may be done by pumping in liquids at high pressure, using combustible gas mixtures alone or driving liquids, or using explosives to generate high-pressure high-speed gas flow." Fracking companies will not divulge the exact chemicals they are injecting into the rock, which, by the way, is where our ground water is. To read a more thorough (yet simplified) description of fracking, click here.
For anyone who might have watched the documentary Gasland, you might find yourself horrified. While stories always have two sides, my greatest fear is not the war over oil but the lack of clean water. According to the documentary, people living with this fracking sites nearby can turn on their sinks and set the water on fire. While I cannot do justice in describing the whole thing on one simple blog, I would encourage you to educate yourself of this issue and come to your own conclusions. In the meantime, I'm doing more research on this right now but contaminating our ground water should be the LAST THING ON EARTH that we would want to do yet it is going on in a frightening alarming rate. Yes, life without oil would be much different but life without water simply does not exist.
But back to Earth Day....before you blow it off as a bogus day for "green" companies to promote their product, large corporates to spout what they're doing to give back to the planet and celebrities to appear at a party in a hybrid vehicle, take the time to sit and just think about the Earth and your life on it. You can decide to recycle, contribute to a cause, fight for what you believe in or simply plant a tree but perhaps the simplest of all actions is to simply think about the Earth. If you can, find some time this year - whether it be an hour or a day and find a quiet place in nature. Sit on the ground or on the beach and listen to the wind, the birds, the water...whatever is around you. Put that thought in your head as a seed as see what, if anything, might grow from it. It's not a "hippie thing", your ancestors once did the same thing - no matter where you come from.
I wrote about some of my seeds above and it is because of those seeds that I'm passionate about preserving this planet. I'm hoping that with those experiences and a MBA, I can figure out a way for us to create a sustainable future. A tall order. I'm earth-focused but know the reality of business and their objectives. I know there is a way to find a compromise and I'm thrilled to see some companies honestly trying. After all, we have one planet so its in ALL of our best interests to take care of it.
Whatever your goal is to help support this Earth, I wish you success! Happy Earth Day Earthlings!
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