I think we saved them.
Let me take you back to 1992, Claremont Elementary it was a wonderful year of school. Nothing to difficult, learning cursive, figuring out jump ropes and playing with everyone on the playground. I was ten years old and learned a lot about life. It was the year of “Stardust” a nice mix of dry sugar and dry Kool-Aid, you ate it straight out of a plastic bag, delicious. It was almost every day at lunch kids would have different flavors and it was pretty easy to find. Like crack only for kids. (Kids in 2006 were suspended for this same mix, they called it “Happy Crack.” That’s why you don’t get caught.)
This was the same year I was handed a bag of crunched up cookies on the playground only to be tattled on for having drugs. Yeah right, I didn’t even know what drugs were at that point. All I remember was a surprised teacher coming up to me and asking what I had. I informed her I was holding… a bag of cookies. She snatched it from my hand and like a police officer from the movies she stuck her finger in and tasted the crumbs. Her keen since of taste clarified the situation, cookies. That was a close one.
It was also about this time that we started selling the “Save the Planet” shirts. I don’t know who started that racket, but it was genius. Printed on “organic” materials and featuring such graphics as a tiger head or maybe a waterfall. This was in addition to our efforts to “Save the Rainforests” by walking around the playground. I didn’t understand at the time that our ability to walk in a circle and collect popsicle sticks was so vital to saving the trees of South America, but clearly it worked.
It was the “Global Warming” of our day. I’m not saying I don’t believe in global warming but considering our science on the subject is less than two hundred years old it seems like we might be jumping to conclusions. Speaking of that, since the downturn of hairspray use from the late eighties the ozone hole that was going to kill us all has been greatly reduced, you’re welcome. We just solved problems left and right. How dare they call us a lazy generation, we aren’t lazy for playing videogames we are just reducing our emissions not driving to other people's houses.
We watched multiple videos on the ozone and the rainforest and I think most of us felt like we needed to work hard to fix these problems. I don’t know if it was puberty or a lack of interest but I haven’t heard anything about the ozone or the rainforest since the mid-nineties. Captain planet was a hit cartoon and Fern Gully gave us further warning on the big screen. I don’t know how the tree-hugger agenda became so popular but we were deep in the game. As we were ending our efforts in the rainforest department we didn’t even see the recycling revolution coming. 
His name was Billy B. and his songs were catchy and infectious. They still run through my head to this day. “Re re- recycle, re- re- recycle” A grown man singing songs of conservation and earth science. A day away from school at the college nature trail and amphitheater plus snacks, we’re listening.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEVBuG3FHJ4 – Billy B (circa 2001)
Again I guess it goes to show how easily influenced kids can be, especially when you provide snacks. Having an eight year old of my own makes me wonder what he will see and hear over the next few years that might influence his outlook on life and the big ticket issues he hears about now. So maybe we saved it and maybe it is still in danger but you can read up for yourself on the subject. Here are some “facts” I found online about the rainforest (which still exists) despite what they led us to believe twenty years ago, that they would all be gone by now.
“Tragically, the tropical rainforests are being destroyed at an alarming rate. According to Rainforest Action Network, more than an acre-and-a-half is lost every second of every day. That’s an area more than twice the size of Florida that goes up in smoke every year! "If present rates of destruction continue, half our remaining rainforests will be gone by the year 2025, and by 2060 there will be no rainforests remaining."
Every second . . we lose an area the size of two football fields!
Every minute . . we lose an area 29 times the size of the Pentagon!
Every hour . . . we lose an area 684 times larger than the New Orleans Superdome!
Every day . . . we lose an area larger than all five boroughs of New York City!
Every week . . . we lose an area twice the size of Rhode Island!
Every month . . .we lose an area the size of Belize!
Every year . . . we lose an area more than twice the size of Florida!
At the very least, "with the destruction of the tropical rainforests, over half the plant and animal species on earth, as well as numerous indigenous cultures will disappear forever." If strong and decisive action is not taken immediately to reverse the destruction of this vital ecosystem, the consequences will be catastrophic. In fact, many scientists agree that the earth could very well become uninhabitable for virtually every living species, including humans!”
Read more at:
http://www.savetherainforest.org/savetherainforest_007.htm And in case you want to know more about the Ozone:
http://www.epa.gov/ozone/science/
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