America is waking up. A few weeks ago, as we celebrated our nation's birthday, I realized that I owe it to America to report on positive ecological changes in my newsletter.
A few days ago, as I arrived at my destination airport in Switzerland, I was handed a plastic straw at the eatery with my freshly squeezed orange juice. A few hours earlier, at my departing airport in America, I received a biodegradable paper straw with my ice tea at the coffee shop.
For over a year, plastic straws in restaurants and supermarkets in certain parts of the USA have been banned. Plastic straws are not recyclable, so they end up in landfills and incinerators, as well as littering our streets, parks, and beaches. Straws made out of plastic are unnecessary utensils and are disposed of after one use. If you can't go without a straw, only use the ones made out of biodegradable paper. Or refuse the straw and drink your iced beverage without one. You will be surprised how fast you will get used to your new habit.
I don't know of any other countries but the US, where highway miles are rented to private companies which sponsor trash clean-ups in exchange for displaying their company logo.
I don’t know of any other countries but America, where a First Lady legitimized environmental issues and made them a national priority. Lady Bird Johnson, the spouse of the 36th president of the United States, was a major force in implementing highway beautification. As the President and his wife crisscrossed States by road during his 1964 campaign, Lady Bird Johnson was horrified about the roadside junkyards they saw along the way. Within weeks of renewing his oath, President Johnson submitted a message to Congress on stewardship of the country's natural bounty. The First Lady was particularly proud of her highway wildflower seed-planting program in Texas.
I don't know of any other countries but the US, with more diverse National and State Parks. You can find these national treasures in the barren wilderness, ocean shores, mountainous terrains, and lush valleys. Most of them provide educational centers where visitors learn about the park's environment, fauna, and flora.
I don't know of any other countries but the US, where major coffee chains provide used coffee grounds for free to their customers. Once worked into the soil, used coffee grounds promote plant growth while also repelling ants and slugs.
I don't know of any other countries where there is such a variety of wildlife just outside your kitchen window. To this day, I'm still astonished by the little paradise in my backyard. While drinking my morning coffee, I watch different creatures just a few feet away. Two curious squirrels are starring through my glass door, waiting to catch a few grapes or nuts that I throw on the deck, a proud blue jay landing on my birdbath for a few sips of water. Some cute cottontail rabbit babies filling up their bellies with morning dew grass. A squeaky chipmunk running busily between the bushes while a woodpecker climbs up the old hickory tree. Since this spring, a pair of large, wild turkeys make their daily rounds in my neighborhood. Beautiful butterflies add a dash of color to the landscape. At dusk, a few bats circle above the pool while catching mosquitoes for dinner. Such a diverse mix of creatures only an hour's drive away from New York City. Amazing.
America still has a long way to go in reducing the human footprint and its impact on the Earth. But I see more and more awareness around me.
Where hope grows, miracles bloom.