By Margie Young
This past Saturday, 56 of us from the University of Portland expelled ourselves from our warm beds and sleeping bags at a bleary-eyed hour of the morning to pick up garbage on the Oregon coast as part of the SOLV Fall Beach Clean-up. â?©Beautiful weather blew in to the Barview Jetty area of the Tillamook Bay beach where we worked, contrasting with the foul junk we found hidden amongst the rocks and sprinkled on the sand. As my group and I picked up the stray remains of human consumption and activity, I came across a Capri Sun pouch depicting a bronzed, beaming surfer riding the waves on some pristine tropical beach. Oh, the irony . . . I got a good laugh out of that little piece of trash.â?©It made me think about an issue thatâ?TMs been troubling me for a while, though. If we humans value the natural world that surrounds us â?" not just pristine places for our enjoyment and spiritual reflection, but also the fertile soils and waters where our food grows, and the ecosystems that cleanse our water and air â?" why do we so often carelessly abuse it? In this age of global warming and intense habitat destruction, when so many of our little daily choices can either enlarge or reduce the amount of resources we consume, why do we not more often choose to walk gently upon the earth, our home? â?©For me, care for the environment is clearly a religious and moral issue. Pollution and habitat destruction, admittedly fueled at times by my own lifestyle choices, disproportionately affect the poor. Also, from many analyses, such as those of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, we know that rising sea-levels, shifting temperatures, and changing patterns of rainfall from global warming will profoundly hurt the worldâ?TMs poorest people first of all and most of all. â?©Many faiths, including my own Roman Catholic tradition in its Catholic Social Teaching, articulate the necessity of placing the needs of the poor first. I read in the Catholic Sentinel just a few days ago that Pope Benedict XVI recently called attention to the moral issue of global warming, emphasizing how it will affect the poor the most and imploring us to be better stewards of the earth. â?©Many other religions also share the conviction that we have a responsibility to care for creation, not only to try to alleviate the suffering of the poor, but additionally because of the belief that God endowed all of Godâ?TMs creation with intrinsic goodness.â?©Of course, I think itâ?TMs also important to regularly take a breather from being a responsible caretaker to simply step back and admire the beauty and mystery of creation. â?©Last Saturday was the first time one of my dear friends had ever been to the Oregon coast. Her excitement and amazement at its beauty reminded me to stop and be attentive to the wonder around me â?" the color of the sky and sea; the warmth of the sun on my hair; the coolness of the ocean breeze; the sound of the seagulls and the waves breaking on the rocks. She reminded me to pause, look around, and be thankful â?" for the day, for the natural world, and for the people with me. â?©I am truly thankful for all of you that spent that Saturday picking up litter on the beach. Maybe it doesnâ?TMt seem like your efforts made any difference â?" maybe all you found was a few cigarettes and a wrapper here and there â?" but the little things add up. â?©The Beach Cleanup, the first in the country, started in Oregon in 1984, back when SOLV still officially stood for â?oeStop Oregon Litter and Vandalismâ?? and didnâ?TMt carry out the extensive habitat restoration and community beautification projects that it does today. Now the cleanup takes place in every state of America (I guess some have to do â?oeshore cleanupsâ??), in every territory of the U.S., and in over 100 other countries. Just by your participation on Saturday, you were a part of a group of nearly 4,000 volunteers that all together covered 363 miles of coast and collected more than 30 tons of garbage. Big things start out small â?" small things done in small ways by people like us.â?©There are plenty of small things that we can all do to reduce our impact on the environment besides volunteering for environmental service, such as shopping conscientiously â?" opting for organic, buying local, and choosing products that have the least amount of packaging and the greatest amount of recycled material (as much as the budget allows). â?©We can turn off lights and unplug appliances that donâ?TMt need to be on while weâ?TMre gone (many appliances draw electricity even when theyâ?TMre turned off). We can get educated and involved on political matters concerning the environment â?" for anyone interested, I suggest joining the UP chapter of Focus the Nation on Global Warming Solutions (to start out, you can find this group on Facebook â?" everyoneâ?TMs welcome). â?©The small things may seem insignificant. Picking up five cigarette butts on a beach. Eating less meat. Shopping with reusable canvas bags. Signing a petition. What can such little things change? I find hope in these little things, though. After all, a little faith changes seven loaves and a few fishes into a feast; a little faith changes a tiny mustard seed into a tree; and a little word of mouth changes one SOLV volunteer into 56.â?©
