A few months ago I came across a postcard advertising the “California Coastal Cleanup Day” and was struck by the peculiar and effective image of an Egret with a cigarette for beak that the organizers developed called Cig Egret. So I held on to it hoping that I could arrange my schedule and somehow participate in the cleanup scheduled for September 20, 2008. The cleanup included beaches, parks and trails all across California. Last year, approximately 60,000 Californians participated in the cleanup.
I’m a trailrunner and a mountain biker and derive great pleasure in using our parks in California. So by necessity, I am an environmentalist. I try to be gentle to the trails and parks whenever I use them – trying my best not to disturb natural habitats and never littering. But that was only one of the reasons why I participated. Beyond that, I have a serious bone to pick with cigarette manufacturers.
I remembered a story about Michael Jordan and his mental preparation routine before games particularly for the play-offs and championship games. He was known to invent slights perpetrated by players on the opposing teams so that when he gets on the court, he already has boiling anger towards them. I didn’t have to create a slight to get a strong sense of indignation, as my mother has been a smoker all her life. The pain she goes through – the coughing spells – are quite revolting. And yet, she could never stop smoking.
I decided to go to the Dana Point Harbor and arrived early enough to make sure I had first pick on the equipment. I got there before 9AM and secured a mechanical tong so I can pick up trash without bending down. I deliberately focused on cigarette butts to get a sense of outrage and spent one and a half hours doing that. There were some 120 volunteers at the Dana Point Harbor alone by the time I left at 10:30AM and more were arriving. Apart from the other types of trash and recycables that I collected, I picked up 428 cigarette butts.
Of all the many fights that I’ll be waging in the future, the one against the cigarette manufacturers will probably be one of the most daunting, grueling and punishing. So, every opportunity to intensify that anger, the easier it will be to overcome all the challenges that will come along with it. I’ve decided to call that war “RANCID FOG".
(Robert's Note: When viewing the Cig Egret postcard, click on flip at the bottom.)
