Green is Universal: To Speak or Not To Speak... Out For The Environment

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To Speak or Not To Speak... Out For The Environment

Posted at 05:25 PM on March 05, 2008 comments (4)

By Danielle L. Spires, iVillage Your Total Health

On a recent camping trip to the Adirondacks, I encountered a situation that asks the question... Should you put yourself in personal peril to protect the environment? Ok, well that sounds a bit extreme so let me explain.

We were staying at an established campsite that had a few cabins and tent sites. While we were eating dinner around our campfire our cabin neighbors to the north began to chop down a small tree (in camping terms, fowl a tree) for campfire (which you can buy at the store). There were many rules being broken here. Other than the obvious safety issues, they were destroying private property and the environment. What troubled me the most was that I didn't know what to do. Should I have directly confronted them and risked being harassed or worse? Keep in mind I am only sleeping in a tent which is a thin piece of fabric protecting me from a family with an axe! Should I have ignored the situation entirely and just sent mean thoughts their way? What would you have done?

I ended up taking the middle of road option and informed the manager at the campsite, who then dealt with the situation.

This is obviously a rare occasion that I encountered, but there are so many similar instances that I find myself lost at what to do. For example, I feel very passionate about recycling. When I put out my nicely separated recyclables each week, I have noticed that my neighbor doesn't recycle at all. I want to say something, but am not sure if it is my place.

I guess the question is, when does it become our job to educate others about living a more eco-friendly lifestyle? And if it's not our job, than whose job is it?

What do you think?

Danielle L. Spires
iVillage Your Total Health

comments

Posted by: Denise on March 5, 2008 08:32 PM

I think this is a great site more people need to get Green.
If by chance you would like to walk for this cause, up date me. After all i have not seen or heard anyone do it. Its the most precious problem we see, I feel if we marched and talked more, people would respond better. So please e-mail me if your on the west coast and interested in assistance. Thank you for proving this info. Denise

Posted by: Penny Moon on March 5, 2008 10:29 PM

It's everyone's responsibility. Afterall, we are all stewards of the earth. You absolutely did the right thing by informing the manager and letting him deal with the situation. Your responsibility at that moment was to report the incident to someone with authority to handle the situation and you did just that. Good on you!

Posted by: Tanya on March 7, 2008 01:29 PM

I can't believe people would do something like that! With all the "green awareness" that has been increasing over the past few years these people are clearly naive to a very important issue. Actually, it's not even just an environmental issue, but just irresponsible in general to cut down a tree on public land. Good for you for reporting them!

Posted by: Jo Keffer on March 7, 2008 08:10 PM

Great job, finding the most effective and safe way to handle the situation. Now about that neighbor.....somehow the conversation needs to come up so that a little education can begin. Maybe they can be convinced to then recycle. Good Luck !