Environmental awareness

How environmentally aware are you? Do you have a memory of who it was that first enlightened you about how humans affect their environments and not always in a sustainable way?

I am of course talking here from the perspective of our physical environments. Those which are the providers of our physical nourishment. In the shadow of the Live Earth concerts,I've been considering how I grew in awareness of human exploitation of natural resources. At a great girls out dinner in Chinatown recently, two friends were discussing their anticipation and expectations of the Live Earth concert the following evening. Ever the eco-bunny I considered going along for the 'cause' but declined on the grounds that I'm not all that into crowds and concerts.

It was at this evening that I recalled the theme tune to The Wombles - "...making good use of the things that we find, things that the everyday folks leave behind". We laughed about the fact that I actually have this theme song on my iPod and it crops up quite regularly in the song shuffle.

Seriously though, even though I only remembered one of the characters names from childhood memories of the show, I now believe that these guys are an icon of environmental awareness for me. Should I be surprised? I am a child of the 70s after all.

Thanks to The Wombles, I'll carry on recycling my household waste as I have done for many years, "even bottles and tins". It feels like I'm doing something small to "answer the call" as Live Earth are imploring us to do. Also thanks to The Wombles, one day, when I own a golden spaniel, I already have his name worked out - Orinoco!