When I was a child growing up in inner city Detroit, during the late 60s, the industrial age had already been in full swing for many, many years.  Urban decay had left its partial mark, but you could still wake up and smell the sweetness of fresh air during the early morning hours.  I grew sunflowers, corn and strawberries in our city lot. The summers were hot, but manageable and the winters yielded mounds of wonderful snow to play in.  Many older citizens who had immigrated to the United States were my neighbors, and I enjoyed partaking in the customs they brought with them from different cultures.
     Although the area we were in was far from prosperous, most people's better nature still seemed evident.  My parents and I went on walks during the warm months to the park, took hikes along the railroad tracks and caught the public transportation bus to other areas.  In any spot of earth I found, I took delight in viewing and examining every plant and bug.  Earthworms were plentiful and Junebugs really visited in June. At night an occasional possum could be seen and nighthawks gracefully glided and darted across the sky.  I do not remember hearing much about break-ins or death during these years and I greeted the world with trust and exuberance.
     My first awareness of trouble was when I noticed that the rain stung my eyes. My father told me that it was a mild version of acid rain, something new that he had only recently experienced. From that point on I started my lessons in sociology and environmental stresses.  I saw things changing in negative ways. As time passed, the rain  continued to burn,  smoke and trash began to accumulate, and tension built among the inner city dwellers. The elementary school I went to soon had roving gangs and quickly took on the likeness of an old decayed jail that was boarded up with gray 3/4” plywood.
     By the time I turned twenty, the air always smelled of decay and carried a peculiar musky stench. I developed recurrent near fatal asthma attacks. Over eighty percent of our block consisted of burnt out shells that once were homes.  Crime was escalating.  Fires spread and police efforts occurred to no avail. The streets were covered with filth. Storms smelled sour and torrents of rain water, not being able to flush through the trash blocked drainage systems,  flooded the streets and the low lying buildings.
     At the age of twenty three I found I was left with no other option, than to leave my family home, that had housed three generations of heritage and the city in which I was raised, all behind.  My  home sold for one dollar. With nothing to start over with, I moved out into the country, to fresh sweet smelling air, clean streams, groves of trees and more rational people.
    As the years passed in my country community the air began to smell sour, the streams became polluted, groves of trees were felled to make room for expansion and tension increased between people creating the start of escalating crime.
    My point in verbally painting these pictures is to illustrate the interdependence of each element in our society and how we do not always see the whole picture for what it truly is. The fact that it took only 19 years for me to see the collapse of my inner city world and only 10 years to see the same sort of thing happening on a smaller scale in the country community I now live in, demands attention! Many people have said it does not matter if they recycle, conserve energy, help others or hold to an ideal.  Still other people do nothing, yet say they believe something should be done. The rare person lives the reality for what it truly is.
   The environmental issue is not just about people and the environment.  It is about a commitment to honor and preserve the wondrous creation our planet is.  And that honor and act of preserving needs to extend to all species on earth,  plant, animal and human. If we fail to get enough people to help do their part in time, then our earth will no longer be habitable and we will have to settle for the benefit of knowing that an ideal is an end onto it's self.
    We do have options.  Options to help humanity and its supporter, the environment, while still enjoying the benefits of technology.  We can help clean up what we have already done, but until we change the way in which we derive power and create our technological conveniences, the devastation will continue to surmount. Change is possible. Renewable power is everywhere. Alcohol from corn fermentation for cars; wind, hydroelectric and solar for electrical power;  geothermal and solar for heat.
   Unlike the prior lost civilizations, we have the power to destroy our world instead of just ourselves!
   Living an ideal can be as simple as being mindful of your connection with everything. This can involve being kinder to others (which helps reduce sociological stresses and led to cooperative efforts), recycling, exploring alternative energy or just taking the time to look around at what is taking place.  Naturally it is an inspiration when someone tries to replant devastated areas, cleanup spills, start a campaign to recycle or setup alternative energy adaptations, but everything counts towards the possibility for a livable, healthy future if we act now, before it is to late.
 
   John Siegel & Victoria Croasdell are the Co-owners of a family business MRISAR; Institute  of Science, Art & Robotics.  Their internationally recognized research & developmental work includes: rehabilitation robotics, biomedical, electronics and alternative energies.  They are CO-founders of an environmental & humanitarian  nonprofit organization.