It isn't easy being green

[Keroin]

I came to Wannahockalugee with several goals, one of which was to help with the protection of, and education about, the marine ecosystem. My enthusiasm was high but my hopes, (as a realist), were not. It has been a long, trying two years and I’m sad to say little progress has been made, despite the hard work of many.

From the police chief fishing in the protected reserve, to fishermen stealing the mooring buoys we bought and placed outside the reef, to the tourists taking live coral as souvenirs, etc, etc, etc, I sometimes wonder if the blood, sweat and tears are worth it. Yesterday I watched a longliner working just outside the reef, knowing that there are no large pelagics there for them to catch and what would end up dead on their lines would be only sharks, eagle rays and turtles…including my friend Chippy. All I could think of was Bruce Coburn singing, “If I had a rocket launcher…”

Sigh.

Still, I’ll never stop. I love the ocean and I want future generations of humans – your children and grandchildren - to be able to catch a fish or watch a dolphin jump or, um, just be able to breathe, (algae provides over 80% of our planet’s oxygen). Maybe I’m tilting at windmills but so be it. To quote Dr Seuss: “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”

Anyway, to combat the doom and gloom, I allowed myself a YouTube viewing this morning and had a good chuckle. A friend of mine first turned me onto this clip, I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Namaste

Keroin

 

[midwestyankee]

I came to Wannahockalugee with several goals, one of which was to help with the protection of, and education about, the marine ecosystem. My enthusiasm was high but my hopes, (as a realist), were not. It has been a long, trying two years and I’m sad to say little progress has been made, despite the hard work of many.

From the police chief fishing in the protected reserve, to fishermen stealing the mooring buoys we bought and placed outside the reef, to the tourists taking live coral as souvenirs, etc, etc, etc, I sometimes wonder if the blood, sweat and tears are worth it. Yesterday I watched a longliner working just outside the reef, knowing that there are no large pelagics there for them to catch and what would end up dead on their lines would be only sharks, eagle rays and turtles…including my friend Chippy. All I could think of was Bruce Coburn singing, “If I had a rocket launcher…”

Sigh.

Still, I’ll never stop. I love the ocean and I want future generations of humans – your children and grandchildren - to be able to catch a fish or watch a dolphin jump or, um, just be able to breathe, (algae provides over 80% of our planet’s oxygen). Maybe I’m tilting at windmills but so be it. To quote Dr Seuss: “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”

Anyway, to combat the doom and gloom, I allowed myself a YouTube viewing this morning and had a good chuckle. A friend of mine first turned me onto this clip, I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Namaste

Keroin

Manufactured to high standards indeed.

K, you just keep tiliting. A few windmills will fall but it may take a few more knights to follow your lead.

 

[Keroin]

Manufactured to high standards indeed.

K, you just keep tiliting. A few windmills will fall but it may take a few more knights to follow your lead.

I tilt therefor I am.

 

[midwestyankee]

I tilt therefor I am.

She's a pinball wizard
There has to be a twist
A pinball wizard
She's got such a long long list.

She ain't got no distractions
Just lives on rocks and mud
Don't see the companies' profits
Plays by smell of blood
Always get a replay
But never gets the call
That bright blonde and isle girl
Sure plays a mean pinball!

 

[Keroin]

She's a pinball wizard
There has to be a twist
A pinball wizard
She's got such a long long list.

She ain't got no distractions
Just lives on rocks and mud
Don't see the companies' profits
Plays by smell of blood
Always get a replay
But never gets the call
That bright blonde and isle girl
Sure plays a mean pinball!

*Insert image of me cracking up*

The day is better already.

 

[Sir_Winston54]

*Insert image of me cracking up*

We can't. You only posted frontal views. <pout>

 

[Keroin]

We can't. You only posted frontal views. <pout>

Hardy har har!

*Makes note to PM SW with one more "parting shot" before leaving*

 

[HisSexyPet]

Being in the alternative energy research environment I totally concur with the "it ain't easy being green".

A lot of people know it is better for the environment and better for our future, but the cost or the not convenient factors outweigh the benefits. If it were easy everyone would be doing it and we wouldn't have to be tipping windmills to get it done.

Giggles...I feel like I am writing and ad...but if you would like more information on renewable energy or energy savings you can visit the web site that I helped design and maintain. fsec.ucf.edu.

 

[Keroin]

Being in the alternative energy research environment I totally concur with the "it ain't easy being green".

A lot of people know it is better for the environment and better for our future, but the cost or the not convenient factors outweigh the benefits. If it were easy everyone would be doing it and we wouldn't have to be tipping windmills to get it done.

Giggles...I feel like I am writing and ad...but if you would like more information on renewable energy or energy savings you can visit the web site that I helped design and maintain. fsec.ucf.edu.

Will do! Thanks.

What surprises me most are two things:

1. How hostile people can get about the suggestion that we should take better care of the environment. Dudes, we live here, it's kind of in our best interests to look after it.

2. That more parents aren't more concerned. When I die, I leave behind no one. I don't have to care. If you have offspring that have to live on after you're gone, don't you want to leave the planet in good shape for them?

 

[missginger2177]

First off, totally get where you are coming from Keroin. I shudder every time I walk across campus.

Secondly, was I just watching a Python sketch? Damn that was hilarious! Thanks for that.

 

[HisSexyPet]

Will do! Thanks.

What surprises are two things:

1. How hostile people can get about the suggestion that we should take better care of the environment. Dudes, we live here, it's kind of in our best interests to look after it.

2. That more parents aren't more concerned. When I die, I leave behind no one. I don't have to care. If you have offspring that have to live on after you're gone, don't you want to leave the planet in good shape for them?

Luckily I have worked at the energy center for 15 years. My kids have grown up going to solar car races and building solar model cars. My daughter did a great science fair project about local water pollution.

We are seeing more and more school groups having their field trips to our center and the number of students and attending parents and friends at our education events has risen astronomically in the last few years.

There are people out there. You are not alone, even though it may seem so.

 

[Keroin]

First off, totally get where you are coming from Keroin. I shudder every time I walk across campus.

Secondly, was I just watching a Python sketch? Damn that was hilarious! Thanks for that.

Actually it's from an Australian comedy show that I don't know the name of offhand. Maybe one of our Aussies can help me out.

Hilarious though, eh?

 

[Aquila1]

No. It isn't easy. I spent several years working in fisheries management at a national level, and in that time I witnessed first-hand the depletion and degradation of many marine ecosystems and habitats - and this is in a nation that is not subsistence fishery based, and in fact, prides itself on how it manages its fisheries.

One of the crustacean fisheries I assessed had a ratio of around 30:1 bycatch to target species. Meaning that for every kilogram of target species caught, 30kg was discarded as bycatch - and it was all dead. Eye-opening and disgusting. And the political interference was incredible - scientists could talk about collapsing stocks till they turned blue in the face, but the government has no interest in hearing about it - not when it brings in the mighty export dollar. I get very tired of the way the word 'sustainable' is manipulated by the interested parties.

But I can't turn my back on it, I just can't. Even though I don't work in the field anymore, I still have a voice. And I can still tilt as well.

 

[Keroin]

Luckily I have worked at the energy center for 15 years. My kids have grown up going to solar car races and building solar model cars. My daughter did a great science fair project about local water pollution.

We are seeing more and more school groups having their field trips to our center and the number of students and attending parents and friends at our education events has risen astronomically in the last few years.

There are people out there. You are not alone, even though it may seem so.

That's very good to hear! I think I see the worst of it because I've spent so much time in developing and third world nations. I managed a small resort on a small Cay in the Bahamas once, though, where the clientele was mostly US and Canadian families and it shocked me how uncaring most people were. I would explain to every new family that we only get our water from the sky and so could they please, please, please be conservative with it and I don't know how many times I'd hear 20 minute showers. One time I walked into one of the kitchens to deliver a kettle and found the tap running full blast, water running down the drain, with a group of people chatting and laughing and not one of them thinking to shut it off. Yeesh.

But yes, at least in the first world things are slowly changing. I have hope!

 

[Keroin]

No. It isn't easy. I spent several years working in fisheries management at a national level, and in that time I witnessed first-hand the depletion and degradation of many marine ecosystems and habitats - and this is in a nation that is not subsistence fishery based, and in fact, prides itself on how it manages its fisheries.

One of the crustacean fisheries I assessed had a ratio of around 30:1 bycatch to target species. Meaning that for every kilogram of target species caught, 30kg was discarded as bycatch - and it was all dead. Eye-opening and disgusting. And the political interference was incredible - scientists could talk about collapsing stocks till they turned blue in the face, but the government has no interest in hearing about it - not when it brings in the mighty export dollar. I get very tired of the way the word 'sustainable' is manipulated by the interested parties.

But I can't turn my back on it, I just can't. Even though I don't work in the field anymore, I still have a voice. And I can still tilt as well.

HOORAY! HOORAY!!

You guys are making me feel so much better.

Fisheries...ugh...so frustrating. The majority of the world has no idea how imminent the collapse of worldwide fish stocks really is. Out of sight, out of mind. It scares the hell out of me, to be honest.

 

[intothewoods]

I know a lot of parents who care. And child-free folks. It's easy to get discouraged though. I think- I know that Wall-e movie made a big impression on my kid. It's pretty scary and depressing. I hope the steps people we take can make some impact. I always feel like it's not enough.

 

[YourCaptor]

Namaste isnt going to sabotage anything.

 

[Keroin]

I know a lot of parents who care. And child-free folks. It's easy to get discouraged though. I think- I know that Wall-e movie made a big impression on my kid. It's pretty scary and depressing. I hope the steps people we take can make some impact. I always feel like it's not enough.

If I'm realistic, it probably isn't enough, based on the simple mathematics of world population growth. However, I will keep one foot firmly planted in the "hope" quadrant, just in case.

As for the comment about parents, I was talking on more of a global scale. Among the educated and affluent, (and I consider most of us in N America affluent by world standards), I think parents do give a damn. However, this demographic does not make up the bulk of the world's population. There is the large chunk of people who can't care because the need to simply feed themselves and their family overshadows all else but there is also a large number of parents who are neither destitute nor ignorant and give scant thought to the future of this planet for their kids, grandkids, great grandkids, etc. I find that mentality strange and depressing. To me, it's like someone giving your kids a mansion to move into when they grow up and then you taking a sledgehammer to it every day.

Mind you, we in the west, despite our recycling and hybrid cars, are pretty darn gluttonous, per capita, when it comes to food and power consumption. (I don't hold myself exempt from this, BTW).

Anyhoo, yes, I know lots of parents care but are there enough of them to make a difference? I have doubts.