What happens to the "Save the Forests", "Save the Earth", "the Green Planet Movement" during Christmas time when millions of trees across the world are uprooted, and their dead branches are decorated and electrocuted, gifts placed under their dead, lifeless bodies, people sing and dance around them...and a week later, ornaments and decorations are stripped off them and their lifeless bodies are discarded on the roadside. Is this celebration? Why must our celebrations have a destructive impact on nature? When do we learn to celebrate nature? We are born of it, we are it, then why do we murder it?
Trees are killed every year and perched in front of the White House and the Rockefeller Center here in New York City. Decorated, and then they become the center piece of a celebratory event, with millions across the world watching in awe and celebrities gracing the event. The Rock Center Tree is perched right in front of the GE Building....and GE is ranked no. 47 on the list of the Top 100 Global “Green” Companies. (http://www.newsweek.com/2010/10/18/green-rankings-global-companies.html#) Does "Green" mean killing trees or planting trees? GE, I am a little confused here, help me out. Meanwhile, the present and the past First Ladies of America are shown tending the flora and growing vegetable gardens, planting trees and lecturing us about healthy living, the Green Movement and Saving The Earth while a perfectly healthy and gorgeous tree is killed and decorated RIGHT IN FRONT OF THEIR HOUSE! I guess, the Holiday Season also spells a “holiday” for our principles and initiatives.
It is okay to kill millions of trees every year for the sake of tradition, but not okay to tear down forests??? What is the difference??? The difference is - one is protected by environmental laws, the other killing is not. Michelle Obama, Al Gore and GE, if you really feel so strongly about the environment and saving the planet and “going green”, then set an example and stop this annual ritualistic murder of trees right in your own homes.
Some argue that they pick a tree but in its place they also plant one. I don't understand the logic. They rob the environment of a tree, the impact of which is immediate. To yield the same benefits of the uprooted tree, we have to wait several years for it to grow and when that happens, we tear it down again. Befuddling!
A perfectly beautiful tree is killed and disposed off purely for fun and merriment. Why? Because it is a tradition. Yeah? The practice of “Sati” was also a “tradition” in India where widows had to jump into burning pyres alongside the dead bodies of their husbands. Yes, they had to jump and burn alive with their dead husbands. That “tradition” is banned today. It is illegal. We need to re-think some of our traditions and their impact and validity. These trees, if not uprooted, would grow into beautiful tall trees, and be beneficial for the Planet and ultimately for us and our loved ones.
How about using fake Christmas trees??? They look equally good and can be used repeatedly for years. Cost-effective, economical and good for the environment and the planet. But no one is listening......
We grow up, get the best education and evolve intellectually. Each generation claims and prides itself as being more aware and evolved than the previous. We are quick to shed what is old fashioned and embrace the modern. Then how come the planet we call our home, suffers more today than it has ever before. As we evolve, so does our greed and it is said, for greed all nature is too little.
Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas!
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