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Apology to the Earth
Dear Earth,
I am sorry for all the damage that I have done to you in this lifetime. My impact has been relatively small compared to the impact of all humanity’s destruction, but still— you deserve justice.
Justice is all about apologies and forgiveness and making amends. I know how it feels to have had injustices done upon me without much apology or compensation for it. It hurts. You deserve better than that, Earth.
Here are the things that I have done in this lifetime that I apologize for, Earth, among many others.
I am sorry for every plastic bottle, every piece of plastic wrap, every piece of plastic garbage, every Styrofoam bit of nonsense that I have expended and then sent away into your lovely bounty.
I am sorry for all the pieces of meat and other animal products that I ignorantly consumed before I became a vegan.
I am sorry for all the hours I have spent draining electricity while playing video games, computer games, watching television, and doing online chat.
I am sorry for the time when I forgot why I must protect you. I am ashamed.
I am sorry for ever doubting that you were worth it, for doubting that I should devote nearly all of my attention to you.
I am sorry for all the pointless car rides I have brought about.
I am sorry for thinking that my immediate gratification was ever better than your life.
I am sorry for all the insects that I have trodden on, swallowed, choked on, squished behind a piece of bleached cotton, flattened beneath a hard object, and/or ordered others to dispose of.
I am sorry for the stacks of paper and pencils and pens and rolls of tape and gluesticks and all the other things that I have wasted for the sake of “education”. I know that you are the one who I should go to if I would like a true education—an education on how to live within nature, which clearly I lack.
I apologize profusely and humbly. Please, Earth, can you forgive me?
I cannot promise you that I will never again use another uncertified piece of paper made from the rainforest of the Amazon, and I cannot promise you that I will never again go inside a car so as to avoid polluting your heavenly skies. But Earth, I will try harder than ever before to treat you with as much respect as possible. I am renewed in my efforts to help you however I can.
I am sorry. But I thank you for being as warm and cheerful and welcoming to me as ever, at least in places where you haven’t been trodden down. Perhaps things will work out after all. I hope for your future, Earth. Let us be friends again.
Sincerely,
Carolyn
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