Alex S.

Dear Mother Earth,

After going through this course, and also doing my own community service, I've come to realize truly how special our world is. I'm very blessed to live in a country that is free, but also that has such beauty surrounding it. I live in Connecticut, and now that fall is approaching, all of the leaves are changing color and falling everywhere. Although it can cause a bit of a mess, it's quite a sight and one that I love watching change constantly. Fall is one of my favorite times of the year, as well as winter. As I see the weather get a bit crisper and watch all of my surroundings change, I also see people littering and not caring about our world. Now that I'm noticing this alot more, and also how people could be alot more "eco-friendly," it's made me change in how I go about my daily life. I'm very careful to make sure that all garbage is put in its right place and that anything for recycling is also put in such a place. I've been picking up garbage/ recycling items all around my house and over friends' houses. It's made my family and my friends realize that just by doing simple things like putting bottles in recycling that it can make a big difference.

One of my favorite places to go back at home is this park called Waveny Park. It is huge and lots of people hang out there to relax, play frisbee, have picnics, or do whatever they please. Whenever I go to this park a surge of peacefulness takes over me. Everything is very calm and all of my worries or troubles are sent away. The park has a huge hill and field that are bright green due to the grass. When I think of what would happen if this "sacred" place was taken away from me, I honestly don't know what I would do. It means alot to me and is a place that really has helped me get through some rough times. If this were to ever be taken away, I would not only have to find a new place to go, but have to find a way for it to leave my mind and find a new spot. I've had such great memories, and also some sad ones at Waveny, and I'm not sure I would ever be able to find a replacement for it. In order to make sure that such an event never occures, I, along with everyone else have to try to be very "green," and do what we can to lower global warming. Again, this could mean doing lots of recycling, turning off lights that aren't being used, or not leaving water running. If everyone were to pay a bit more attention to how much they waste, I guarantee they would be very suprised. They would realize, just like I did, that they are partially responsibly for what is going on today. Part of my mission is to get people more aware of the things they can do to change our world, and also change the way they live for the future. I intend on doing this for a long time, just like my community service.

Mother Earth, I'm here to help you!

Alex S.