Blogger action day - the environment

Today is a “blogger action day.” More than 7,000 bloggers all over the world are writing something about the environment.

I’ve written more than once about the paradise we live in. The beaches, the ocean, the reef are incredibly beautiful. Everybody I’ve met here agrees. But that doesn’t mean we’re blind.

Many people here don’t seem to realize what they have here, what an incredible resource this place is. Trash and beer bottles and pop bottles are regularly tossed on the beach or thrown from car windows. This is certainly not unique to Puerto Rico. Roadsides and beaches in the States suffer the same way.

To combat this problem here on our corner of the island, a group of locals, Puerto Ricans and ex-pat Americanos together, formed a volunteer, non-profit organization called “Rescate Playas de Isabela” (Rescue the beaches of Isabela). Every other month they – perhaps I should say “we” since Elaine and I are members – work with the Isabela government and with the state Department of Natural Resources to have a massive clean up of a stretch of beach. Once a month organization volunteers clean up the stretch of road we’ve adopted. This picture is of the trash we picked up in three hours last Saturday morning along one mile of road.

Volunteers from Rescate put trash barrels (like the ones in the photo) at all the beaches in Isabela. Corporate sponsors – particularly Corona and Heineken – paid for the barrels and the municipal government makes sure they get emptied. It sounds like such a simple thing but it took many many hours of volunteer time. Most importantly, this simple idea has made a HUGE difference in the amount of trash left on the beaches.

If you want more information about Rescate Playas Isabela, check out their site at www.myspace.come/rescateplayasisabela.

Better yet, JOIN Rescate Playas Isabela. It’s $15 a year or $25 for a family. You get a T-shirt and you will help a great cause close to our hearts. I don’t think there is an application on the myspace site but e-mail us at info@ola-lolas.com and we will send you the form.

One other local environmental issue before I get off this: the reef. The reef! I think it is mostly ignorance and perhaps carelessness but people – both Puerto Ricans and turistas – abuse the reef. They stand on it. They sit on it. They kick it. They look at it and think it’s “just a rock.” Or worse, they look at it and assume it’s dead. IT’S NOT! It is an 8,000 year old community of living creatures. And it is still very much alive.

Look around you. What in your environment do you take for granted? What do you not notice because it’s always there? What do you walk on without realizing you’re hurting another living being? Just for today, think about it.

Think globally, act locally.

Thanks. We now return you to your regularly scheduled blog.