Having faith in recycling

Tonight I went to a screening of a documentary made by Martin Ostrow and Terry Kay Rockefeller called Renewal.

It was extraordinary.

And coming from someone who only recycles because it was a better resolution than trying to lose weight last year, and who doesn't believe in god(s), that is pretty extraordinary.

It was totally eye-opening and I highly recommend that everyone go see it. Taking better care of this planet should not be relegated just to the earthy-crunchy tree huggers of the world. It's like preventative medicine, a measure taken to ensure a better quality of life not just in the now, but also for the future.

It's stupid not to really.

The piece on mining practices in Kentucky will blow your mind. You can't believe that that kind of thing is happening today. Check out this website for more: www.ilovemountains.org

Literally they are removing whole entire mountaintops to get to the coal. I almost cried when they showed one man who talked about how the hickory tree in front of his house that had been there since forever had been destroyed, not only the tree, but the entire ridge. Just erased.

That picture doesn't even give you the feeling of the scale of the destruction. It's hard to believe that humans can do that to the planet.

The other story that stuck out was about a preacher down in Moss Point, Mississippi.

He had a small church in a poor town that had been pretty thoroughly contaminated by area refinerys and other chemical industry throughout the years.

After Hurricane Katrina hit, Moss Point was completely contaminated.

It is estimated that prior to Katrina 95% of the population of Moss Point were living with some type of environmentally caused ailment.

Post-Katrina that figure is now 100%.

And it's not even 1962 like you'd think it was. But after Katrina hit, the preacher was hit by the Holy Spirit (his telling of the event is alone worth the ticket price) and it made an environmentalist out of him. And hey, if god is now talking about cleaning up the environment, I imagine it's time to listen! Two words: Noah's Ark!

This documentary is showing this weekend at the MFA. It's about $10 to get in. And it's a good thing to spend your money on. You won't feel lectured to, you will leave inspired - that I promise you!

Plus if you don't fall in love with Farmer Floyd, well then there is something wrong with you.