Remember When the Seas were Clean?

This is a good writing prompt today. It’s a real thinker. So yes, if we could go back in time and give your younger self advice, what would it be? Folks over 60 like me can remember a cleaner environment. Meanwhile, younger generations are born in a world of plastic choked rivers.

Can you remember when mother Earth was clean. Remember when we practiced our grandparents’ ways? Remember when we did things old school before disposable plastic days.

I was born in 1963, during the American Civil Rights Movement. Growing up in Florida, I experienced racial divisions firsthand. Because of school zoning, I attended an all-Black school during my first year. Later, my family moved to an all-white neighborhood. Looking back, what a strange world we lived in.

I’d tell my younger self to keep an open mind. Learn about other cultures, respect their traditions, and never let prejudice prevent me from understanding another human being.

But I’d also tell him something else. Remember what the world looked like.

People my age remember beaches before they were littered with plastic. We’ve watched disposable packaging, plastic bottles, and mountains of waste accumulate over our lifetimes. We didn’t simply read about this environmental crisis. We watched it happen.

For decades, environmental organizations have fought pollution. We’ve passed laws, organized campaigns, and developed cleaner technologies. Yet global carbon emissions have more than doubled since my childhood, and plastic pollution has become a worldwide problem.

Perhaps we’re missing something.

Environmental protection cannot succeed through technology and legislation alone. We need a cultural movement, one that brings people together across national, racial, and cultural boundaries.

That’s what I’ve been exploring on my blog, Megahead Hydroelectric Hydrogen Generator. I’ve even contacted international environmental and cultural organizations, including initiatives connected with the United Nations, about the emergence of a new global culture built upon the traditions and knowledge of people throughout the world.

My vision is a decentralized, environmentally sustainable global economy, supported by cooperation rather than cultural division.

So what would I tell my younger self?

Be open-minded. Learn from everyone. Remember how the world once looked, and remind future generations.

Future generations cannot appreciate what we’ve lost if nobody remembers what we had.