My hand grips my keys, phone, and wallet. My arms push open the front door. It creates a whoosh of wind that chills my fingers. It is cold outside, again. No more short-sleeves and jeans rolled at the ankles no matter how hard I try to get away with it. Winter is in full affect and it is taking over the city of Philadelphia. There is half melted snow covered in dirt on the ground, the ground is slippery, and icicles and stalactites hang from the shingles of homes and under bridges. We all walk pass and never think of it; just another cold winter. On January 4th, 2018 there was the first zero degree temperature reading in decades. These statistics surprise us more than they scare us.
Walt Whitman introduces the idea of caring for nature in his poem ‘Leaves on Grass’ he talks in detail about nature and it should be truly treated. “You have not learn’d of Nature—of the politics of Nature you have not learn’d the great amplitude, rectitude, impartiality,” We as people have not studied nature or appreciated it for what it is. We have not looked at it correct behavior and fairness that it deserves. Snow falls harder and harder making it almost impossible to get around. Salt and constant shoveling erodes the ground and sidewalks leaving them dry and grainy. Cars become crusted with a salt and hard water mixture that scratches up the paint. The city is constantly trying to combat the snow and the ice without learning the magnitude of these actions. Our main concern is to make sure we can get around effectively in this frustrating weather.
The same idea can be applied to our entire country. Everyday the environment is being harmed by habits that are second nature to us like wasting water, eating meat, not recycling, throwing away trash incorrectly etc. Nature around us becomes lackluster and we get used to it. The chilling cold, the rough winds, the inconsistent weather feels like our natural climate; it is not. Whether you believe in it or not climate change isn’t only affecting our city and our country, it is affecting the world. Politically, a lot of people deny that climate change is a thing although Washington D.C. is facing the same effects as Philadelphia.
My hope is that everyone notices and starts to treat the nature around us, our environment, with the rectitude and impartiality that Walt Whitman was speaking about. We need to take real action against climate change so we can live and survive on this planet as long as possible without hurting people. If we have just an ounce of humanity- we can completely change the idea of nature and what it means to all of us. The city of Philadelphia has tried and tried to make small efforts in increasing the preservation of nature. Currently, Rittenhouse Park does not allow smoking or littering. Day by day we are making small efforts that will hopefully spark a bigger change.
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Our Philadelphia, Our America 