Jeannine's opening statement

[Jeannine]

I think my first concerns about the environment started with the
frogs, and the bees and the bats. Even though I heard a lot about the
polar bear’s plight, it was really the small, often unnoticed
creatures that had me the most concerned. You’ve probably heard the
stories about the “colony collapse disorder” of the honey bees, but
maybe you haven’t heard about the white fungus found on the nose of
bats that forces them to leave their hybernation caves in the winter
and die, or a new fungus that is wiping out amphibians world wide. It
seemed to me like these unexplained illnesses affecting vulnerable
creatures was a scary thing.

Then I saw Al Gore’s “Inconvenient Truth” and I realized that we all
had a responsibility to do something to change our lifestyles so that
nature can restore itself. Even if humans have nothing to do with
climate change, and most climate scientist think they do, it seems
like an important time to think about our effects on the environment.
I was shocked to hear about the “Pacific Garbage patch” that is larger
than England and floating far out in the Pacific ocean. Much of it is
made of different types of plastic which doesn’t biodegrade. Instead
it breaks down into smaller and smaller particles that are eaten by
ocean life. It is found embedded into jellyfish swimming in the area.

I started to make changes in my life but I realized that it would mean
little if I didn’t have other people for support and to spread the
effort. I knew this was the right thing when I heard from Ruth Alice
about this NEWI course. Thank you all for sharing this with me.