Environmentalist

Tree hugger, hippy, nature nut: I've heard them all. I am an environmentalist. I believe in healing and protecting the earth. I do not litter because I would never think of throwing trash on my mother. I am careful about the size of my carbon footprint. I drive a small car and try not to do that too often. When I do I invite someone along and knock out as many errands as my companion and I can so I won't have to go out for awhile. I turn off lights. I plant flowers. I believe a weed is just a flower I haven't met yet. I tread as lightly as possible on the earth.
I do that because I believe in and exercise the mentalist part of environmentalist. I think about what the earth will be like if we don't take care of it. I think about what future my grandchildren's children will have. I think about what the earth will be like long after my ashes have been absorbed into the earth. I think about how important it is to remember if we don't take care of the earth, life could cease to exist on this young planet.
Sometimes I wonder about the lives of beings I am certain inhabit other worlds. Would we be welcome there if we trashed our own planet to the extent it became uninhabitable? Could we even find out way to another world?
I am an environmentalist because I choose to live as if, a hundred years from now I myself would have to live with what I create in my lifetime. The future does not belong to me. It belongs to the yet unborn. It belongs to seven generations beyond my time. I hope what we do now will create a planet with life abundant and healthy for that far future generation. so I will do my part and be a tree hugger, a hippy, and a nature lover. It's the least I can do.