Southern Sierran
Small Gestures Get Big Results

By Dr. Rosemarie White

As I got in the elevator from the lower parking structure up to Ralphs Supermarket in Studio City, I heard frantic heels running behind me to make it through the closing door.

The owner of the heels made it inside; the elevator ascended. We smiled at each other and then she saw my Heal The Bay canvas bag. “I forgot my bag,” she gasped. “I have to go back!”

Photo courtesy Sierra Club Archives Give this baby condor a cleaner planet. Make the switch from plastic to canvas.

As I got out, she pushed the down button and disappeared back to her car. I was so inspired by her dedication that I impulsively gave MY bag to another woman checking out whose groceries were automatically being loaded into non-bio-degradeable plastic containers. She was so delighted that she said she would “tell her children about this!”

I lugged my 10 pounds of birdseed out to the car and I suddenly felt as if there was hope, and that we really would make things all right with the world.

So now I want your help. Not your money, not your time spent in a meeting, but your presence in an exclusive Club, the OhYesWeCan Club. Senator Diane Feinstein decreed two years ago that May 16th be celebrated as ENDANGERED SPECIES DAY to celebrate the safety net for all our species on the Planet, the Endangered Species Act. I’m going to ask you, each of you, to buy two canvas grocery bags and go to the supermarket and give two people those bags for their food. Tell them that plastic is ruining our oceans and killing the marine life, tell them that we need to do something to save trees, or just tell them it’s Endangered Species Day in a few days and you want to do something to save what we can.

Tell me about your experience. My email is DrRMWhite@aol.com and I’ll answer and we can talk if you want. OhYesWeCan.

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