Does this sound garbage?

There is a breed of bird that is slowing down reproduction in the Galapagos Islands, putting it in danger of extinction. We are killing entire species because some cannot manage to collect them themselves. Trash is killing.

About one hundred and fifty years ago, an explorer named Charles Darwin visited these islands on a ship called The Beagle. He discovered so many unknown species of plants and animals that he created a firestorm of interest on these mysterious islands that continue to burn. Today, trips from Lima, Peru (the closest port) are continuous and filled to the max with people wanting to experience the area.

Researchers visit this area and take home specimens that have never been seen or recorded before. But, with all that interest, a problem has arisen. So many tourists visit the area and leave trash on the beaches that ants have begun to infiltrate the area. Those same ants bite and make it difficult for the birds that live in the area to survive. It sounds silly that something as careless as littering can destroy a species, but here it is, in vivid color, recorded by scientists who don’t know how to stop the damage.

On the other side of the globe, I witnessed another spectacle of man. In 1982, I was visiting London, England, and took a taxi, then a train, and then a bus to visit Stonehenge. At that point, you could walk among those huge and imposing stones and feel their energy.

Ten years later, I revisited those same rocks and the area was cordoned off. Graffiti had been painted on one of the rocks. The taggers had come to the historical sites created by Druid priests (supposedly) centuries ago as an ancient calendar.

What does it take to instill the Native American attitude that emphatically says to leave an area the same way you found it? From the aborigines of Australia to the Masaai tribes of Africa, the issue remains the same. We are not here to disturb the earth. And yet we do.

Here in Texas, after months of continuous effort, I picked up all the trash on the road that leads to my mother’s property. In just one mile of walking, it took me a whole month to clean up the beer cans, liquor bottles, cigarette packs, etc., that lined the country road.

I am not condemning, forgiving or criticizing us (sorry for the pun). Always leave a place in better shape than you found it. It’s as simple as that.