renew your thinking

8/9/2019 REnew Your Thinking

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REnew your Thinking & REnew the Earthby

Grant Campbell


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Distributed by

P.O. Box 9644Fort Lauderdale, FL 33310-9644

954-776-5585email: [email protected]

Web site and Blog: www.browardaudubon.org

Board of Directors 2007-2008

Doug Young, President Devin Avery, Vice PresidentJohn Makos, Treasurer Hedvah Schuchman, Ph.D., SecretaryLisa Baumbach-Reardon, Ph.D. Grant CampbellJustin Freedman Jonathan EstrinMargaret McPherson Barbara Walker Marti Reynolds Chris Nicolas
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]


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REnew your Thinking & REnew the Earth

With population growth comes a demand for more goods, more products, more raw materials, and more

foodstuffs. This is good for the manufacturers, the growers, the wholesalers and retail merchants, good forthe consumer and good for the economy.

It is devastating to the environment. Raw material producers strip-mine or open pit mine for ores,

destroying wildlife habitat and leaving gaping holes in the once pristine earth and sometimes leaving

behind toxic tailings.

Massive Strip Mine

Farmers grow their crops using phosphates, pesticides, and herbicides that wash into our lakes, streams and

rivers, killing off natural flora and fauna and polluting our aquifers. In order to get the most production

from farms, farmers have gone to clean farming which eliminates fence rows, a major portion of our

wildlife habitat.

.Crops are planted right to fenceLines eliminating wildlife habitat

Irresponsible loggers clean cut our forests to realize the highest return possible from the area, resulting in

more habitat loss, less carbon dioxide absorption, less oxygen production and more greenhouse gases.

Clean cutting of forests results in more greenhouse gas production than all fossil fuel burning combined.


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Clear-cut logging, El Dorado forest,

Sierra Nevada Mountains, California

Hunters and poachers decimate wildlife populations driving some species to near extinction. Fishermen

over-fish our lakes and oceans, leaving precious little brood stock for future generations, resulting in

smaller and smaller average catch sizes. Shark hunters kill sharks just for their fins. Beluga sturgeons are

killed for their eggs to put caviar on our plates. Sea turtles are reaching or are at endangered status.

Sea turtles are near extinction

Ever-increasing demand for housing eliminates wetlands and wildlife habitat, and places more and more

stress on our dwindling water supply. Our lakes and rivers worldwide are at record low levels. The GreatLakes, that inexhaustible freshwater source, are at their lowest levels ever. Freight ships are sailing with

reduced loads to prevent grounding. Lake Meade is predicted to be dried up by 2050. Lake Okeechobee is

at its record low level. Water is being consumed faster than the water cycle can replenish our aquifers.

A Lake Okeechobee boat ramp

that was fully operational in 2004


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It is past time to rethink our policies in all areas. We need moratoria on mining, hunting and fishing. We

must stop urban sprawl and start building vertical. We need to recycle as much as possible, including our

waste water.

As much as 80% of our water consumption goes to irrigation, whether it be crops or lawns. The amount ofwater we throw away daily almost equals our irrigation needs, presenting an ideal case for using recycled

water. Further treatment and filtering could convert this wasted water to potable water, further easing theburden on our aquifers.

We must boycott items that are harvested irresponsibly, such as shark fins, caviar and tuna caught in nets

without turtle excluding devices. When we stop buying environmentally unsound products, the retailers

will stop buying from the wholesalers and the wholesalers will stop buying from the manufacturers, the

hunters and the fishermen and the market for these goods will cease to exist.

We must stop filling our landfill areas with non-degradable items such as plastic grocery bags and

disposable diapers that can last in landfills for up to 2000 years. Grocery bags can easily be replaced with

reusable canvas or heavy duty paper bags. Empty them and save them for the next trip to the store. If you

must use plastic bags, be sure to recycle them properly, along with plastic bottles and Styrofoam containers.

Plastic in a landfill can last years

We can save vast numbers of our trees by recycling our paper products. Paper and cardboard can be made

into new paper that can be recycled over and over, leaving trees to grow to maturity for the production of

lumber and wood products.

When purchasing home products, opt for products made from sustainable resources such as plantationgrown lumber, or better still, purchase products made from materials that will not deteriorate.

We must stop indiscriminate destruction of our wetlands and other wildlife habitat for the sake of

development. Most development serves to enrich the developers at the expense of the environment.

Benefits to the consumer are secondary. What we destroy today upsets the balance of nature for all time.

WE can make a difference if we concentrate our efforts. The effort you make will have a cumulative effect

when coupled with your neighbors efforts. As John F Kennedy once said, "We can each do a little, and we

should".

renew your thinking

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