lmetropulo
Registered: December 2010
City/Town/Province: Boca Raton
Posts: 1
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For most people, raising environmental awareness is not a fundamental aspect of their lives. The problem with society today is that people seek self-satisfaction instead of promoting the well-being of the Earth and its resources. The existence of humans is directly correlated with the health of the planet. However, in modern times many people have forgotten the importance of the environment, and continually pollute and degrade the planet. People possess the tools and knowledge to lower the amounts of pollution, but societies as a whole have largely decided to ignore the issue of pollution. What the Earth needs is for people to stand up and take the initiative to raise awareness in their communities. I have taken this initiative and turned it into a nationally recognized program that I founded called Fishing for Families in Need based in Boca Raton. I teach ongoing ethical angling fishing clinics centered on the core values of conservation. The lower income kids I teach are taught to be good stewards of the sea by adhering to fish regulations, catching only the number of fish they can eat, and properly disposing of fishing line. Also in our classes I teach them to use circle hooks and d-hookers, which are tools that reduce the amount of damage done to a fish, therefore enhancing its chance of survival. My intention is to teach the children how they may provide food for their families, help the environment, learn new skills, and make them want to raise awareness about the need to reduce pollution in order to protect the ocean and promote its biodiversity. Thus, my students have learned how to better their own lives through making a positive impact on the environment around them.
Raising awareness is often challenging. In my community I was initially met with skepticism and doubt, but now thanks to media commitments and the national recognition of the USA Weekend Make a Difference Day Award for my efforts to promote awareness, people all around the country saw what can be done when one individual takes the initiative to better the environment. In the spring of 2010, I was featured on the cover page of USA Weekend Magazine, which was nationally distributed in 700 carrier newspapers, in which I was announced as one of the ten recipients of the $10,000 National Make A Difference Day Award established by Newman’s Own, Inc. The ability to receive this is award is evidence that anyone, no matter what age, can truly make a difference in their community and in their environment. After the acceptance of the award, I was flooded with letters from people around the country who told me that they too have decided to take the initiative to promote awareness regarding the degradation of the environment in the hope of generating solutions.
The recent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has made me keenly aware that my efforts to teach the future generation how to protect our ecosystems is not enough. Policies must be in place at governmental levels to ensure the seas safety and promote its biodiversity. I therefore plan to pursue my interests in marine sciences and maritime law at Duke University. All people are faced with the decision of whether to protect the environment that provides beneficial ecological services or to disregard their moral obligations and instead continue to exploit, pollute, and degrade the biosphere. One individual can make all the difference concerning creating awareness about the environment. People need determination, creativity, and a good idea to preserve natural resources for future generations.
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