Went fishing this evening down at the creek. Practicing what we preach, not always easy to hear.

[The Straight Story]

I am 44. I have been fishing there since before I was in elementary school.

It is a place where I connect to nature. Not just the fish and crawdads (which I used to catch by hand) but all of the other wonderful things I have seen over the years.

Deer drinking from the water, beaver (saw one tonight and last night, so close I could touch it), geese, ducks, and two of my favorite in the last few years:

Scobie Duck - We named him that, though it is a kind of duck. He seemed lonely. He was the only one of his type there. We would bring him bread and such and he would come up to see us. He tried to fit in, but the other ducks and geese would ignore him.

Rabbit - he was black and white, probably domesticated that someone let go. He would come up and steal anything I had to eat.

I have watched snakes, muskrats, etc.

I walked that creek - in the water. Swam there. Knew it like I did my path home. I once watched a crawdad fighting a sun fish.

Now? Last few years I have caught fish with odd growths on them.

Fish are not safe to eat from there.

Runoff from the airport and such has tainted the water:

Rocky Fork Big Walnut Creek was impacted primarily from runoff and siltation from
increasing land development in the basin and from poorly treated sewage from failing
HSTS and several small package plants. The biological communities in the upper part
of Rocky Fork were performing as bad or worse than any time since the initial study in
1991 (Ohio EPA 1992). Sugar Run and Rose Run were showing varying degrees of
impact from land development in the New Albany area.

The “Columbus Airport Tributary” was impacted by channelization, removal of the
woody riparian corridor, runoff from Port Columbus International Airport including the
persistent spillage of large quantities of airplane deicing solution (ethylene glycol), and
sediment contamination (metals, PAHs). The resource quality is similar to the 1996
survey results (Ohio EPA 1997) except for the detection in the sediment sample of six
PAHs in excess of the threshold effect concentration or the probable effect
concentration.

http://www.epa.ohio.gov/dsw/tmdl/BigWalnutCreekTMDL.aspx

From when I was a boy the trees have grown up and seem to be the only things that have flourished.

I take my daughter there, like I did today, and I see trash and less aquatic life.

I sit on concrete dumped by some company. The once clear water I swam in is cloudy - sure it was always muddy, but is so much more so now I can't see more than a foot into the water. The fish often have red welts on them (though the one catfish I brought in tonight did not, the other one broke the line as I was bringing him).

Cars. Houses. Businesses. Airports. Etc.

The same people who will come down on smoking in a bar will gleefully go about their lives polluting the creeks and killing the wildlife there. As their cars drive by there, thousands a day, their pollutants fall into the water. There is a freeway above where I fish, I-270, often backed up and not moving during rush hour.

These same people happily buy up tract homes near the creek not thinking twice about the pesticides they spray on their lawns to keep the dandelions from making it look 'bad'. And when it rains it all runs off to the creek. They catch flights from the local airport to go to business meetings that they could do over the phone or video conferencing.

When I go, myself and my daughter pick up what trash we can (there is a trash can there, sadly I have seen dead fish in it - catch and release anyone?).

I try to show her the beauty, the things I saw when I was a kid, but so much has been erased - by the same people who complain about the environment and how it is impacted by big companies, etc.

*I* can do better, and I am trying. When I was a young man I used to have a little club that went around and picked up trash in the neighborhood, I was inspired by something in a comic I read about pollution and the rain forest. We don't use chemicals on the lawn here - got weeds? Mow over them (and when I lived in Mt. Vernon I used a real push mower - just blades and no engine). I don't now (not my house) and some people can't - there are trade offs (I don't expect people to jog to work or cops to patrol using Segways) but we can all make a difference.

We don't have to become Amish, but we can do some things which help.

In the end - before yo preach to me and others about things think about your own impact on the environment and the lives of others. 3

BP messed up, big time. But we do each day - myself included, by taking the easy way out and trying to keep up with others. From Styrofoam cups to getting coffee at some store when we could make it ourselves.

I drink Diet Mt. Dew at times, 2 liters. I keep the bottles and fill them with water for when I go fishing. No need to go and buy bottled water - and maybe buying my 2 liter is not the best but I can say I reuse the bottles.

It starts with simple things. *MY* simple things may not be yours. You might ride a bike to work because you can, perhaps you don't even need a lawnmower because you live in the city.

I don't know how you can help make things change for the better - I just ask, or perhaps hope, YOU do and can make adjustments in your life for the better.

And I really hope we can do the same with the companies we work for, that we don't become overly judgmental towards one another, and instead find the best solution for ourselves as individuals and as a society.

Peace out.

[Tansy_Gold]

1. 20+ years ago, I bought a book titled something like

"50 Simple Things You Can Do to Save the Planet." I did a few of them, I think.

A few days ago, I stumbled across that book again. Maybe I should get it off the shelf and take a closer look at it.


As a fellow Mountain Dew fan -- although for years I've much preferred Kroger's brand called "Citrus Drop" -- I can identify with you over those 2-liter bottles. But between the HFCS and the plastic, I gave it up about six months ago in favor of home-made iced tea.



TG

[Liberal_in_LA]

5. those books are still around

[Atticus]

2. Just a note to say I enjoyed your post even though it saddened me.

At 61, I have seen even more degradation of my natural world. As a child, I used to collect several different types of mussels from the shallows around sand bars in our local river. Banana mussels were elongated and, yes, sort of a yellowish brown. Cherry stones were near round, like slightly flattened balls. Washboards were rippled and wavy. All made great catfish bait.

I haven't seen ANY mussels in years.

You sound like you have your head on straight. You value what is truly worthwhile and you are willing to make some sacrifices to preserve it and pass it on. Good on you.

If you haven't read any Thoreau lately, why not revisit Walden? Hank's admonition to "Simplify, simplify!" has never been more relevant.

[TreasonousBastard]

3. Every time I hear someone talk about oil spills, hybrid cars, windmills...

or any of the fingerpointing going on toward OTHER people I tend to ask myself just what I've done today to make the planet a little bit cleaner or more pleasant than it was yesterday.

Truth is, I fall down a lot even though it is actually part of my religion to walk lightly on the the earth.

When those of us who actually care fall down on the job, what hope is there when there are so many who just don't give a damn?

[MikeH]

4. Anybody who is at all concerned about the environment

Anybody who is at all concerned about the environment has no business defending, or not just defending but CELEBRATING, the right of the Duggers to have EIGHTEEN children.

Even if the Duggers are within their constitutional and legal rights, their having EIGHTEEN children is certainly very environmentally irresponsible, and as such is morally reprehensible, and is deserving of criticism.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=6757448&mesg_id=6757571

[The Straight Story]

6. The Amish have plenty of kids and don't impact the environment like others with kids

It is not the quantity people have (I am pro-choice) but how they live their life.

And the biggest offenders are often those with the most money, and perhaps fewest kids (big businesses, corps that create tract homes without proper runoffs, etc).

We CAN all make a difference, and when that accumulates it means a lot - but we need a top down not bottom up approach.