My Environmental Philosophy

I only became environmental aware in the past few years. Of course, growing up, I was taught to reduce and recycle, but I never really knew how it affect our planet. Even throughout my teenage years, I wouldn't go out of my way to through a plastic bottle into the recycling bin, I would just throw it in the first garbage bin I came across. In my naive mind, it was only one bottle, so how much harm could it do?

This past summer, I began working at Calusa Nature Center as a camp counselor. Although my job was to teach and inform the children, I ended up learning just as much as they did. Each week was based on a different theme and my favorite week of the summer was based on "Eco-Art.” We did several projects that week that included making bowls out of old magazines, making binoculars out of toilet tissue rolls, and creating sculptures out of trash. Not only did we make eco-friendly crafts, we also learned about the effects of humans on the planet. We learned about recycling, reducing, and reusing and discussed everyday ways on how to be a little more eco-friendly. Not only did I learn about how to protect our planet, but I got to see first-hand the effects. The oil-spill occurred during my time at Calusa and the staff at Calusa immediately began planning and considering the animals that may be brought to the Nature Center that were affected from the oil-spill. We already had a number of brown pelicans living at Calusa and the staff knew there was going to be a large number of pelicans that were harmed during the oil-spill. Unfortunetly, Calusa did not have the housing or funding for the new animals that may need help. I have always been an animal lover but working at the Calusa only made me more passionate. It broke my heart to think about all the animals that were harmed because of our mistake. Not only did this huge accident affect the ocean and the animals, it affected people and businesses too. Working at Calusa opened my eyes to our precious environment around us and it made me realize how important it is that we take care of it before it is too late. Doing simple things like turning off the water while brushing our teeth or riding our bike to school might seem minute but if everyone puts in a little bit of effort, we will earn a big reward in the end.

Calusa Nature Center: http://www.calusanature.com/