Every day we are engaged in a miracle that
we don’t even recognize: a blue sky, white
clouds, green leaves ... our own two eyes.
All is a miracle.
thich nhat nanh
buddhist monk, peace activist
It’s been a big year for environmental issues: climate change has moved to the forefront of
our collective consciousness and everyone knows what it means to have a “carbon
footprint.”The local manifestation of these global issues emerges in the awareness we have,
and the care we take, of our extraordinary natural resources, and in the ways we engage
our citizens in the stewardship that these resources require. So it was also a big year for
the Potomac Watershed: 43 elected officials signed the Potomac Watershed Trash Treaty,
whose goal is a trash-free Potomac by 2013. A very concrete kind of footprint, trash
endangers marine wildlife, degrades habitat restoration efforts throughout the Chesapeake
Bay, threatens our clean air, and provides pathways for the introduction of invasive species.
This watershed-wide approach will benefit the entire Potomac region, including the
impaired Chesapeake Bay. And education, as always, is central to the broader mission.
Whether the subject is litter and recycling, suburban sprawl and traffic, environmental
health and community sustainability, or watershed protection and wildlife habitat,
engaging our citizens, young and old, is critical to the stewardship of our environment. An
annual super cleanup that involves tens of thousands, a hands-on, nature-based education
program for school children, a weekend or a month of get-your-hands-dirty farm work,
or a deep experience of the pleasures of the great outdoors – all of these forge a bond
between people and the natural world. And that bond pays extraordinary dividends.
|
