Honorable Mention Essay: 15-19 Age Group

"A World in a Grain of Sand"

Brienna Herold
Minnesota North Star Academy
St. Paul, MN

William Blake, an English poet during the Romantic Age, once wrote, "To see a world in a grain of sand and heaven in a wild flower, hold infinity in the palm of your hand and eternity in an hour." Earth, when analogous to the soft palm of a hand, has countless worlds within itself-ethnical, political, religious, and so forth-which in turn are divided into even smaller worlds. These tiny realms are the grains of sand on the celestial beach. The ideal composition of this beach may be palm trees, soft white sand and brilliant blue waves that tranquilly lap against large, smooth boulders. However, the beach that we lay our eyes upon today-Earth-contains spilled sewage, disfigured pieces of sharp glass, and a thick layer of oil coating the water. Thousands of these contaminated sand grains represent the planet's declining environmental worlds. In some areas, the pollution is more prominent, even presenting difficulties with crossing safely. With no improvement, the beach will eventually become overridden with contamination. The grains of sand will be spoiled, and Earth will be rendered a hostile, lifeless world for most. I definitely don't want such a bleak future for my home planet. Fortunately, everyone has influence over a scattered amount of sand grains on the celestial beach, which means that I can control the effects of my own actions. My first step toward helping save the environment was realizing my errors: I was biting more off the apple than I should chew-I was overextending my privileges with Earth's resources. For instance, I've accidentally left the hot water running in the sink for minutes on end while another task distracted me, or I've placed an abundance of items into the trash that should've been recycled instead. I'm regrettably not the only one who unwittingly abuses our extraordinary freedom. My country, the United States of America, represents only five percent of the entire human population, yet it generates 40 percent of the planet's synthetic waste. Each citizen tosses out four pounds of garbage every day, and the national trash weight has reached a staggering amount of two hundred million tons per year. Many other resources, such as water and fossil fuels, are also exploited in every way possible. However, I knew that even if I wasn't alone with my destructive habits, I was the only one who could change my ways.

There are an infinite number of pro-environmental ideas floating out there. When I first began brainstorming about different ways that I could improve my lifestyle, some inevitable pessimistic thoughts cropped up. Why would something that I do actually matter? I'm just one human being among six billion. The effects of my endeavors would be miniscule and unappreciated, and one would require telescopic lens just to spot the couple of grains of sand on the beach that appear slightly shinier. Despite this exaggerated worry, I still understood that a machine couldn't run successfully if one or more gears continued to malfunction. I am one of Earth's gears, and it is my responsibility to perform my best. With this in mind, I compiled a long list of rational and affordable ideas and then implemented them into my daily life. Among the most simple and efficient tasks were those done around the home: I now turn off appliances at the power point, choose energy efficient light bulbs, and use the clothes rack instead of the dryer so often. My mother and I buy local food from places like the farmer's market, so that we can support the economy here and contribute toward reducing the amount of gas used during the exporting of produce from distant countries. I support my school district's decision to use a hybrid car to carpool three kids, including me, to and from school. Whenever I'm alone or with friends in the city, I use public transportation to go somewhere. These buses and trains are already there for us to use, so I would only be wasting gas by using a car when public transport can take me to the same destination. If I go to stores like Target, I use their provided multiple-use cloth bag instead of the plastic bags to carry home my purchases. At home, I've also set up several recycling cans for glass, plastic, and paper. All of these ideas are just a start; I will eventually be able to do so much more as I continue to help Earth's environment.

It is with chilling amazement that I appreciate how a wee thing like a human can have an impact upon a colossal object like a whole planet. If I help save the environment, I save Earth. Of course, this can't happen single-handedly, so it is also my duty to influence others around me to follow my example. With six billion gears working together, we might be able to see eternity in an hour as we bring back palm trees, white sand, and gentle blue waves to the celestial beach. The sand grains will sparkle like polished glass once more.