AS SCA commemorates Earth Day, we’re sharing nationwide youth perspectives through The SCA Climate Survey, tales of SCA members’ service across the country, and virtual #SaveOurSphere programs online.
We also have a poem from Ida Lewenstein of San Mateo, CA.
Ida, who turns 90 next month, adopted a conservation ethic as a child, one borne of necessity as much as a concern for nature.
“I was brought up in the Depression,” Ida states. “We had to save and do without a lot, and my mother was very conservation minded.”
Later in life, Ida chose a path of service, first as an elementary school teacher and then as a social worker. After raising her family, she taught English as a second language for decades in war-ravaged El Salvador.
Of late, Ida has turned to writing children’s books and environmental verse, along with frequent checks to support SCA volunteers. We appreciate her generosity and ongoing concern for our young people and our planet.
When Ida sent us her sonnet, “Consider the Litter,” she likely did not know that mounting litter is routinely what first spurs teens into SCA’s community programs. They can’t stand seeing their neighborhoods trashed, and step up to forge change.
It’s been much the same for Ida, who started collecting and recycling waste long before Earth Day got its start in 1970. So what better way to mark this annual event than to post Ida’s poem and perhaps inspire a few more people to #SaveOurSphere.
Consider the Litter
