It was hard for me to begin this post. I am tired (in a good way)--embracing my exhaustion and so thankful and filled with joy when I look at my map showing all the knowplastic readers. I tried to express my joy to the students in Mazatlan--joy for their interest, their growing awareness along with mine. I love the input from earthlygirl about the deeper issues around leaning on corn for fuel, food, and "product". So I was sitting here at the keyboard for quite sometime staring blankly through my plastic eyes into the plastic monitor and I got up out of my chair, went to the bookshelf in the living room and honed in on a book of poetry by Mary Oliver called Why I Wake Early. I did not know what she wanted to offer me, but I knew it was in that book somewhere, and after a minute of flipping pages and scanning titles, I smiled and ran back to the computer to share one with you. It might be the longest title of a poem ever...What Was Once the Largest Shopping Center in Northern Ohio Was Built Where There Had Been a Pond I Used to Visit Every Summer Afternoon
by Mary Oliver
Loving the earth, seeing what has been done to it,
I grow sharp, I grow cold.
Where will the trilliums go, and the coltsfoot?
Where will the pond lilies go to continue living
their simple penniless lives, lifting
their faces of gold?
Impossible to believe we need so much
as the world wants us to buy.
I have more clothes, lamps, dishes, paper clips
than I could possibly use before I die.
Oh, I would like to live in an empty house,
with vines for walls, and a carpet of grass.
No planks, no plastic, no fiberglass.
And I suppose sometime I will.
Old and cold I will lie apart
from all this buying and selling, with only
the beautiful earth in my heart.
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4 comments:
Hi Sunnye.
Thank you for making a video to your mexican friends!!
Thanks for your answer anyway. I will see what do i have to do and i will also research somethig about the corn bags.
I like the poem. It made me think more about our world.
Keep going Sunnye.
Take care.
bye
Hello Sunnye!
I'm from Mazatlan, and I had read some articles that you have and they are great. I think that is wonderful what you are doing, because we don't realized how many plastic we are using in our every day life. Mostly in Mexico, we don't have a recycling culture, which is really needed. Unfortunately in some parts of my beautiful country I have seen how gorgeous landscapes become trashcan. So I promised that I will reduce the plastics in my life. Thank you!
Because people like you are the ones that changed our world!
Good luck!
Thank you ladies...
And creating a recycling culture is good but helping people learn how to REDUCE their consumption is EVEN BETTER, si?
Hasta Luego amigas!
Keep me posted Geraldine!
hi! im student from Rebecca too:) I totally understand when you say its a little over warming to think about all the plastic we use every day, because even if you reduce the quantity of plastic we use is still a lot, I hope that your big experiment will cause people getting notice of how much waste we generate every day, every week, every year!!!
Today I was talking with teacher Rebecca about some attitudes we should assume right away, and we were saying that maybe it is a little more difficult for adults like our parents, to adopt ecological actions because they are very used to a kind of lifestyle. I think that our generation it’s the one that have to take the bull by the horns.
It would be interesting if you post something about the Ecological footprint, I think it’s a very interesting topic. You are doing a great job!!!,
even im not getting extra points:( i want you to know what i think
and thanks for the video!!
Erik :)
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