Why am I Green

Some people think that people who care about the environment are fanatics who care more about trees than people.  Personally I have not always done everything I could to help the environment.  My thought was "What good will it do if I recycle this bottle?" " What I do won't make a difference."  The unfortunate part of this is that it is true- what I do won't make enough difference to make the slightest ripple in the survival of this planet.  It is allot like voting- my vote won't affect the outcome of any election- so why vote?  The point is that the only thing that will make a difference is the actions of groups of people.  We can make a difference! One doesn't have to be a fanatic to recycle, use energy efficient lighting, drive a more economical car, or do most of the things that would aid in helping the planet. 

I was raised in a very rural part of New Hampshire. My grandmother would occasionally send me to the local store that was owned by the father of one of my good friends and also the place where my grandfather worked. On the way I had to go through a covered bridge (the one pictured here) that went over the Pemigewasset River. As I would walk by I could see a frothy brown foam that would often cover the section of the river just down stream form the bridge. This toxic dump was the topic of much local humor. It seemed impossible to me at the time that any thing could be done to salvage that "sewer". Today as shown in the other pictures that river is a swimming and boating tourist attraction. Now this transition took many years-that bridge burned down in 1971- but it did happen. Yesterday searching on the internet I could find no pictures of the Polluted Pemigewasset, only pictures of the tourist attraction. If you look closely at the bridge picture you can see some foam and what looks like "white water" beyond the bridge is actually foam as well.

Now in order to do this my dad and many others lost their jobs in the paper mill that was 5 or 6 miles up stream,which had to close because the owner, Mr. Marcalus, felt he could not afford to meet the EPA standards. This was not a popular with the locals, many had to move away to find work, but today the results are impressive. Now the mill was not the only source of pollution and it took allot more work to make that sewer into the tourist attraction it is today but this transformation shows that something can be done.