Yesterday, I was inspired by Carli’s charming composition on the changing of the seasons. Our planet’s 23.5 degree tilt to our resplendent, life-giving star sustains the waxing and waning of its incident energy and warmth. As terrains defrost, the flowers bloom and bears ambrosia to the rest of nature, harmoniously intertwining the cycle of life and its blessings with its arrival. But how long until springtime is no longer a prolific metaphor for new beginnings and emergent growth?

Rachel Carson, author of Silent Spring and herald of ecology, presaged the global disturbances to our climate in several works and prose. Before her groundbreaking work on the insidiuous effects of DDT, she wrote for the Baltimore Sun and eventually became its editor in chief for The Fish and Wildlife Service. She fought against the avarice of administrations that sought to sap Earth’s resources. In Lost Woods: The Discovered Writing of Rachel Carson, Carson addresses her critics and antagonizers at the Women’s National Press Club Speech with the unflinching truth on the vicissitude of our ecosystems.

“All of these things raise the question of the communication of scientific knowledge to the public. Is industry becoming a screen through which facts must be filtered, so that the hard, uncomfortable truths are kept back and only the harmless morsels are allowed to filter through? I know that many thoughtful scientists are deeply disturbed that their organizations are becoming fronts for industry. More than one scientist has raised a disturbing question - whether a spirit of lysenkoism may be developing in America today - the philosophy that perverted and destroyed the science of genetics in Russia and even infiltrated all of that nation’s agricultural sciences. But here the tailoring, the screening of a basic truth, is done, not to suit a party line, but to accomodate to the short-term gain, to serve the gods of profit and production.”

Carson’s manifesto was broadcast on national television over 60 years ago. Nevertheless, humanity’s hubris has retained an acute preoccupation with GDP and modern society’s compulsivity to possess material goods.

A greater emphasis must be placed on educating the ways that our place in the cosmos, even if our reasons for being here are not known, that must be maintained with diligence to protect and prevent further environmental destruction.

In the way that there is a diverse selection of pollinators on the planet, we can propagate responsibility and awareness in a vast collective approach.

On the subject of spring, comes forth spring cleaning. I firmly believe that people do not need about nearly 70% of the things they own. When I moved from California to Baltimore, I gave away my possessions to friends, neighbors, and people in need. I sold my car. After experiencing the first real winter of my life on the East coast, I likely have to repeat this ritual and purge my closet since my transition is still germinating, and I have to come up with new ways to sustainably shed some layers.

As part of their Zero Waste initiative, the San Francisco Environment Department accepts donations to recycle textiles, while my SoCal friends can donate their clothes, appliances, and even furniture to any Father Joe’s to help the homeless in San Diego. While only about half of recycled garmets are actually reused, your community likely has a Goodwill or Salvation Army that will still “liquidate” textiles for you. Read about Goodwill’s process here. This year, I’m considering the convenience of the Retold Recycling campaign that claims to salvage all the textiles I mail in. A recycling bag costs about $15 or $42 for 3, which is still likely less than the cost of a single item I would save from the landfill. My referral link is here.

Before opting for donations, I’ve been taking stock of my larger textiles to repurpose into bags durable enough for my walks to the store–doubly preventing excess plastic and paper waste. Fabrics can be reused as cleaning rags, or transformed into insulation, pillowcases and bedding, accessories, toys, baby (or bunny in my case) clothes, and more. Reduce, reuse, recycle, and remember.

“The apple trees were coming into bloom but no bees droned among the blossoms, so there was no pollination and there would be no fruit. The roadsides, once so attractive, were now lined with browned and withered vegetation as though swept by fire. These, too, were silent, deserted by all living things.” - Rachel Carson in Silent Spring

Being aware of the truths and incorporating even the smallest changes will help minimize your carbon footprint. Today during my walk around Baltimore, the cherry blossoms were in full force and the birds sang under the Sun in praise of spring. The Photos app on my phone compiled a beautiful Memory of yesterday through the years trekking across America, rooting my reasons for the preservation of this beautiful Earth.