This Side of the Mountain (1991)

This Side Of the Mountain Sidney Saylor Fair There is something about the winter season which reminds us of our own mortality. Dead leaves and stems of dry plants, the cold earth, the yellow and brown grass, all are reminders of cycles and seasons, of beginnings and endings. Human life, too, comes in seasons and cycles. We each have our own appointed time to be born, to live, and to die. We try not to dwell on the end of time for us, choosing to look forward to springtime when nature will be fresh and new and, hopefully, we also will be renewed. Not only are we reminded of our own mortality at this time of year, but we are aware of the fact that we may be living in the last days of life as we know it. 3 The planet earth is dying because of what we have permitted to be done. Many of the chemicals which have been used since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution are not biodegradable and, more than that, there is no known way to destroy them except in temperatures of 2,000+ degrees. The earth, the air we breathe, and the water we depend on for life itself, are full of pollution and poisonous chemicals. And we are still allowing most of the pollution-producing industries to go on virtually unchecked. In Kentucky for the past year there has been a controversy between the University of Kentucky and Arch Minerals Coal Company about mining the Robinson Forest—a vast holding of virgin forest. People line up on two sides, those who feel the university should allow Arch to get at the coal and those who know that, no matter how much the promises of reclamation, once the territory is invaded it will never be the same again. Botanists and biological scientists tell us that the whole forest is really one huge network of roots, a living organism . What happens in the roots in one part of the forest can be transmitted by a chain reaction to all the other parts. Although we tend to think of trees, plants, and grasses as being separate species , they are all part of one unity, the planet earth. The forest is a microcosm of the physical world, they say. Could it not also be a microcosm of the world underneath the surface? Could it be that whatever happens to any one plant or tree on the deepest level happens by chain reaction to all? Televison has created a global awareness of the precarious state of imbalance in nature, as well as its causes, effects, and possible remedies. We desperately need the return of the Creator's law of balance again, but have we let the pendulum swing so far one way in fouling our own nests that it will be impossible to swing back to a balance? Some authorities agree that it is almost too late while others maintain that enough attention is being paid by responsible people and we do not need to be overly alarmed. I believe that in order for us to survive we must change our ways. We can no longer depend on government agencies, stricter laws, and a sense of justice to make things right with the earth. Each living person has responsibility to help keep it clean and wholesome. Who is going to keep the world safe for our children and grandchildren? Physics demonstrates to us that everything in the universe is connected in some fashion. We need to think seriously about this fact and how we might help to restore the balance so badly needed. Take just one example: do you know how much energy is saved when one ton of paper is made from recyled paper as opposed to using a ton of virgin pulp? To begin with, approximately 17 mature trees would be saved; there would be a savings on electricity and water, and a lowering of released air pollutants. There would also be a lower volume of waste to be put into a landfill. It takes 4,100 fewer kilowatt hours of energy to produce that ton of recycled paper, and the energy saved is enough...