Reality Check

Mrrrrr Friends,

I've been getting a little flak for seeming to have abandoned political and environmental commentary here in the blog. It's true that I've been pretty obsessed with my new home and our adventures outside. I'm still engaged with the big blue marble and my critter friends in it, but I've also been a bit worried about how to live up to my own furry responsibilities to protect the earth, our home. That shouldn't stop me from talking about what worries me though, and doing what I can.

It's hard to know what one cat - albeit a furry, black blogging cat - can do to make a difference. Biodegradable cat litter? Check. Minimal packaging for cat supplies? Check. Organic food and catnip products? Check. Carbon Neutral Cat? Check. Recycling of cat fur as bird nesting material? Check. Support of local environmental organizations working toward balanced, sustainable, long-term solutions, and other groups that help critters? Not as much as I'd like, but, check. Occasional rabble-rousing, awareness-building, engaging in spirited debate, and sharing of info? Not as much as I'd like, but, check. People who are engaged in the the conservation struggle? Check.

But I still feel like I should be able to do more.

Of a piece with that, I've got something for you to watch if you haven't already. This is a gorgeous but hard-hitting, 1 hour and 30 minute film about our world and what we...well, mostly it's what you human types...have done to it. There is beauty (humpback whales and charging elephalants) and there is ugly (tar sands, clear-cutting, poverty). It's a call to action.

Click here to watch Home in English, give it time to load up (click pause on the YouTube screen at the beginning and wait 20 minutes), make it full screen, and watch.

If you'd like to know what you are getting into, here's a preview.

Watch the long version (remember, that link is above). Think about it. Tell me if you come up with anything else for a furry, environmentally aware cat dude to do, or share what you are doing.