100 Places

I was at the grocery store last week and noticed among the newspapers there was a magazine featuring an article "100 Places to See Before They Disappear." I stood mute for a moment, absorbing the implications of this title.

Since when did "100 Places to See Before You Die" turn into "Before They Disappear"?

Am I to believe that humans will outlast these places? Will modern medicine sustain us after the Earth has died?

A quote from the series A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin comes to mind:

"Oh, to be sure there is much we do not understand. The years pass in their hundreds and their thousands, and what does any man see of life but a few summers, a few winters? We look at mountains and call them eternal, and so they seem . . . but in the course of time, mountains rise and fall, rivers change their courses, stars fall from the sky, and great cities sink beneath the sea. Even gods die, we think. Everything changes."

It would seem that mainstream media is recognizing that there are some beautiful places that will be lost to us in the not so distant future. However, they're also making money off of this as well. I think this "Be Green" fad is our problem. Taking self-fulfilling measures for the sake of fulfillment. Too many people believe all they have to do is buy CFL lightbulbs and concentrated detergent. Buying "green" to ease our growing guilt about current world affairs, yet knowing consumers as a whole will probably never take further steps. Too risky. I see it all around UVM's campus; people trying so hard to look Green.

All it takes is one person to take a risk, start a movement. John Muir, Rachel Carson, George Perkins Marsh, You? Me?