| Monday, April 24, 2006 |
| A Belated Earth Day |
Growing up, the only thing I remember about Earth Day was my 7th grade Earth Science teacher, Mrs. Taylor. She wore a lime green shirt most of the time and she had webbed feet.
There were cages of gerbils that lined the walls, and the classroom smelled like dirty animals in a dusty barn. But Mrs. Taylor was a nice woman- and I have to give her credit for the gumption it must take to [try to] teach a rowdy pack of seventh graders and put up with their guff year after year.
Mrs. Taylor wanted us to save the rain forests. So with the help of some other eco-friendly colleagues, she put up a parking meter. Next to the library, we could deposit our lunch money and watch the number of rainforest acres we were saving accumulate on a dial.
I was always skeptical of efforts like that. After all, if I could save an acre just by donating 10 cents, why couldn't a group of grown-ups just buy all the acres and save the rain forests for good? We were 7th graders; we couldn't really change anything. Change was up to adults. Big people with money and driver's licenses. People who didn't have to go to school, and who were their own bosses.
Seventh graders were supposed to ride bikes, play dodge ball, and pass notes in class. We couldn't be expected to change anything important.
I recently finished "The Tipping Point...How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference," by Malcolm Gladwell. The book talks a lot about how epidemics start and are spread through a community- usually just a couple of small changes in the status quo that put something over the edge; the tipping point.
Mrs. Taylor probably didn't think any one of us could change the world either. She didn't expect that by the end of the semester, the rain forests would all be saved and we'd breathe fresh air happily ever after. But she made a small effort toward the goal of a big change. She tried. And hopefully, along the way, she got someone to stop and think about doing something for a cause greater than themselves.
When you ask them about her class, most people will probably still think about the dinge of the air or Mrs. Taylor's amphibious feet. But there are some who will plant a tree today (even if they missed Earth Day by a few). They know it might not change the world, but they also know it's better than just sitting and expecting someone else to do it. It's a small change that nearly anyone can make- regardless of age, income, or experience- and that given time and repetition, could make a real difference. |
posted by Brett Crockett @ 11:00 PM   |
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