Yesterday, I watched IMAX Under the Sea on DVD with my son Griffin, who is turning five years old in two weeks, and it was a beautifully heartbreaking experience. The film documents the incredible beauty of undersea life surround Papua New Guinea and the islands of Micronesia. And then proceeds to show and discuss coral reefs bleaching and dying and marine life species like sea lions struggling to survive due to global warming and ocean acidification. Let me tell you, those sea lions have some big, sad, powerful eyes.
Griffin has a few things he’d like to say to us grownups, so I’m turning this blog over to him, Q&A style.
Q: Griffin, what did you learn about what’s happening in the ocean from Under the Sea?
A: Carbon dioxide is making the sea lions and the sea rays be dying.
Q: What things do we need to do at home to help the planet?
A: Don’t turn on lights. Don’t go so far downtown. Recycle.
Q: What one thing would you say to all the grownups who read this?
A: Make less carbon.
Do you worry about what kind of planet we are leaving our kids? I do. Sometimes, I even wonder if I should have brought my beautiful child into it. Frequently, I honestly wish that the car would never have been invented.
After seeing this movie, my husband was going to drive downtown to pick up some burgers and we told him not to. And today, I was going to drive downtown and pick up a book, and decided not to. We’ve all got to start getting serious about emissions reduction. I’ll be the first to point out that I’m being a bit of a hypocrite by even writing this: our family has three SUVs. I’d love to trade those in on three hybrids, but that’s just not practical. Hopefully at least one hybrid in the very near future.
We are keeping it top of mind. Talking about it. Taking small steps, like fewer unnecessary trips. And asking you to do the same. Please. For the sake of the kids. The coral. The sea lions. And everything else that lives Under the Sea, and above sea level.
The film ends on the assertion that we finally seem ready to take responsibility for our actions. Are we? Any response to the five-year-old boy asking you to act on it? Or can you share things you are doing?
