Recently, a friend shared a link to an article she thought I
might find interesting. The article was clearly something that would speak to
my environmental side as the photo in the link showed a long-stretching line of
trash on a beach.
But I dove right into reading it because the title - “What if We All Quit Judging this Scene as ‘Sad’”
– and the image didn’t seem to line up. I was, admittedly, intrigued.
My gut reaction
My instinct was to read objectively and I started out doing
so because I like to view things as impartially as possible where other’s
opinions are concerned. But the further I got into her post full of a moderately
lackadaisical attitude toward her environment masked behind a Zen attitude
about our planet, my objectivity went right out the window.
My gut reaction to this woman’s words and images was an
emotional one, I will admit. The planet loving (especially the beach loving) side of me felt like it had been
donkey-kicked in the side of the head after getting through the post.
If you haven’t already clicked the link above to read the
article, please do so now.
Like I said, my emotional ‘punched-in-the-face’ meter was
skyrocketing after getting through her tale and photos. I intended to post a
comment back to my friend who had shared the link with me but it became far too
long winded for a simple comment.
Word for word
Here’s what I was planning to say in response:
“Interesting article. I had no idea this extent of trash was
washing up on beaches in the Yucatan. On the one hand I see her point about
letting go of looking at it in a bad light, that it is what it is so we need to
live with it as part of our everyday lives.
On the other hand that attitude reads as complacency and
ignorance.
To just shovel directly through an obvious issue, without
doing anything about it is sad; it’s
a sad commentary on the human condition. At least that family’s human
condition.
What would her take be if all that trash suddenly showed up
inside her home and spread itself out across her living room floor? Would she
just shovel a pathway to the kitchen and decide to see the filthy waste in
front of her as an adventure for her kids to explore?
That beach is the home of some form of wildlife. And we
humans screwed it up for those other living creatures. We trashed their living room. And now she wants all
of us to embrace it?
In this case, it isn't as much the debris on the shore that's
sad, it’s the attitude toward seeing it but not looking at it as an issue that's the sad part to me.”
Further investigation
Like any good blogger I did a little digging on the area
where her photos were taken – Tulum, Mexico – to see if there was more to the
story.
Turns out there isn’t much information out there on the
beach trash in Tulum but the few links I did find were even more eye opening.
First, I came across this announcement:
It’s a year and a half old but I know the issue isn’t
miraculously solved considering ‘Not Sad’ article writer posted her thoughts yesterday.
Then I came across a couple more beach cleanup posters – one
from 2011 and another on a blog, owned by a Tulum resident, called I Go CentralAmerica:
The fact that this much debris is still washing up on the
beaches there after at least 3 years’ worth of cleanup efforts got me thinking
even more about the words and images in the original article.
And I realized she was right. I was no longer sad. I was
mad. Furious in fact. What was I so angry about? This line from the original
article:
“Then for safety’s
sake, plowed a path from our picnic to the water…”
After reading this other resident’s polar opposite take on
the issue and learning there could be all manner of items in the debris, up to
and including needles, I was outraged at the lack of compassion present in that
one statement.
They cleared a path to the water. Not that they brought
trash bags and gloves to get rid of even some of the debris on their way out to
enjoy the perfect beach day at the water’s edge in their own community. No.
They knew the trash could be unsafe so they cleared it out of their way to
access the ocean.
The very same ocean that had regurgitated all of that debris
onto the shoreline in the first place.
The sad part is their few trash bags, had they filled them,
are something that could easily be dropped off at the Centro de Acopio de Tulum
(Tulum’s Recycling Center).
Everyone is entitled
to their opinion…
But all I could think was that complacency breeds
indifference.
The one thing I will agree with her on is that trash is there and that is simple fact. Accepting
the fact that trash washes up on shore shouldn’t make a person sad.
Because we should be
mad about it; mad enough to effect positive change.
I don’t live in Tulum and don’t suspect I’d be able to get
myself there anytime soon to physically help clean up their beaches. So instead
I’m writing this article in hopes that more people will be made aware of the bigger
issue.
Based on the post I understand that our choices in life did
open the door to products made from plastics that enrich our everyday lives. I’m
typing this on a laptop right now. But that doesn’t make me okay with knowing
hundreds of laptops might be sitting at the bottom of the ocean. How could I
ever just accept that?
So when I’m done with my plastic product I don’t intend for
it to end up there. Can I stop it if it does? I’d like to think that if my
voice joined in with others we could
bring about that change eventually. I guess I just can’t come to terms with
shifting my perspective to one of acceptance & awareness but lack of action
on an issue like this.
I hope everyone gets mad. Then instead of offering your
anger to the sea in Zen-like reflection, how about you go and channel your
anger into taking care of the problem. Raise awareness however you can and be
the change you want to see.
Unless you’re comfortable with seeing that change come in
the form of millions of tons of petroleum based plastic washing around in the
ocean for years before ending up inside fish you’ll be eating later. Or perhaps
in the middle of your living room.
In that case, feel free to do nothing but accept it and move
on.
Images Courtesy:
I Go Central America (photos 1 & 3)
In the Roo (photo 2)
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