Letter From Hannah Bridges

Dearest Mother, I have a cold right now and I was just thinking yesterday how it would be so nice to have the delicious soup you always made me when I wasn\'t feeling well. How your hand felt my forehead, and how the look on your face showed me you cared. I cannot express to you how much I love you, and I can only hope that I can be just as great for my children. You have taught me so much about life and I have grown into a beautiful human being because of your love, strength, and power. I am writing today because, though I am nowhere near having children, I am concerned already for their well-being (I inherited the worry-wart gene I guess). How can I not be though? With the rapid pace at which we (Americans) are consuming resources and destroying the planet, how can I expect my children to be as safe and healthy as I was as a child? America is 4% of the world\'s population, yet we consume 30% of it\'s resources and at a rate incompatible with the earth\'s ability to sustain us. Knowing these things, why hasn\'t action been taken? Why hasn\'t any real movement come forward as a way to stop this? Why isn\'t it in our headlines and part of Presidential Debate as to how much damage we are doing to ourselves? Fossil fuels, clean water, rain forests, pristine land, species of animals. . . all disappearing. With our insane amounts of burning and usage, we have created a climate change. All of our greed and waste, our unwillingness to examine our own lives and rate of consumption. . . all leading us down a path to destruction and into a world that I will not have the ability to nurture my children as well as you were. Climate increase will cause more rapid spread of sickness and disease, it will kill the polar bears along with hundreds of other forms of wildlife, it will make the air hot and sweltering with chemicals and toxins. How can I be comfortable when they are running and playing, inhaling the sludge of my consumption? This is a grim outlook, yes, but there is always hope. ALWAYS HOPE. We are such smart beings, full of spirit and life. We are made from the very soil of our mother earth. She is the ultimate nurturer, giving us the ability to heal and grow from the nectars of her garden. We can save her, and appreciate her, and love her--just as everyone should love, appreciate, and respect their mother. I know we already use re-usable water bottles, but it is also so important to realize that buying plastic bottles for convenience is selfish to the planet--imagine all the plastic bottles we as a family have ever drank, all piled up in our backyard. . . Because WE don\'t have to see them, doesn\'t mean they aren\'t there. We are toxifying our water, and believe me, they truly are in our backyard--in the ocean, and in our neighbors yard, and with the extreme growth in population. . . the landfills will be someone\'s backyard. Plastic is poison, we don\'t have to use it. Buying from our local farmer\'s market is so important and I know we do it too, but it is even better to plan your shopping around farmer\'s markets and produce. Going to the one in Oxnard in Ventura so that you can get all necessities before going to a grocery store where veggies are shipped from Peru and Ecuador--using fossil fuels, exploiting laborers (somebody\'s father, mother, sister, child), pesticides filling the air. Local produce is less likely to use chemicals, it creates less packaging waste, doesn\'t travel as far, and keep our local economies important and strong. For yours and dad\'s next house, energy efficient appliances, straw or tire insulation (think of Lizzy\'s winery), our own garden, no junk mail and online bill statements (can do this one now)--all of these things creating a sustainable environment that is healthy to live in. I am writing to tell you this today because mothers are so incredibly important in the world. they have the ability to mold and shape youth. they are respected by their communities and have incredibly moving and powerful voices to their family, and to their government when they are united. If these things are talked about, between us as mother and daughter, then between you and husband, you and neighbor, friend, family, community--you and I have the power to coerce government to take the stand they should, protecting us, not their bank accounts. We have the power to make a difference by setting an example and frowning upon greedy consumption and behavior, just as you frowned upon my selfishness, lying, greed, and violence when I was a child. Why tolerate it from ourselves or our government now? I refuse to, and I hope you refuse to also. After all, I haven\'t had my chance to be a mother yet, and this is for my children--your grandchildren, so that they may benefit from the beauty of life, and not suffer in our world of greed. I love you so much, and encourage and appreciate your efforts and everything you\'ve done for me, because you\'re still doing it for me, just as I will for mine. Thank you so much mom!

Letter From Randy

Hey momma. I love you so much! Here is a website sharing all about climate change and how we need drastic change to save our environment. Our world is in a crisis and we need to makes changes! Love you momma!