This past Wednesday, Colorado State University hosted the renowned conservationist, Jane Goodall. Kelley and I were fortunate enough to get some tickets and were looking forward to what she had to say, as she has seen our planet change drastically during her career. I was also looking forward to plenty of chimp talk and therefore was giddy like a school child during the hours prior to her lecture.

To be honest I really wasn’t sure what to expect from her. I was hoping that she wouldn’t over-indulge in a typical “Save The Rainforests” rant and was pleasantly surprised when she dove right into sustainability and how all of this interrelated. She delivered us her personal turning point when she questioned how could she be so concerned about a specific species of animal when human beings living in the very same area of the world were starving and had an infant mortality rate that was higher than that of the animals she was studying? These realizations helped her broaden focus to a more global approach and she started the Jane Goodall Institute and other programs such as Roots and Shoots.

She spoke about how “thinking global and acting local” is the most important action each of us can realistically take – which is what the main message was in my mind. Things like, buy organic food – these products have have far fewer environmentally damaging chemicals sprayed on them, and the animals have most likely led a better, more fulfilling life than their non-organic counterparts. Don’t shop at Wal-Mart, which is essentially a sanctioned slave labor camp operating in almost every third world country (there is more slavery in the world today than ever before). These simple steps may cost a little more money in the short run, but let’s get serious – we are royally screwing up this planet and if we continue along this path – it is going to get a lot more expensive, and I don’t mean in dollars.

Ok, thanks for reading – here is what I was thinking about prior to the lecture.