Entry #6: Dirty Secrets

National Geographic’s Strange Days on Earth.  Episode: Dirty Secrets

          I now know why it’s said to not drink the water in Mexico.  Mexico has underground rivers and you may think these rivers have water that is okay to drink- it’s fresh water and is not subject to contaminants of the air.  However, the water becomes contaminated from chemicals and sewage from humans that seeps down into the rivers.  Not only are people and businesses are tapping into these sewage rivers, but the water is flowing into the ocean.  It’s causing devastation to the reefs, plants, and fish.  They have a bad cycle happening in Cancun, Mexico that looks like it will end up badly.  The reef there is a main attraction, so more people visit there, creating more construction and a population that creates more wastes, which then seeps down and flows into the ocean, ruining the reef.  Tourists may not want to go to Cancun anymore if the reef is lifeless.

          The following quote from the movie, National Geographic’s Strange Days on Earth: Dirty Secrets, is a great one: “Every action we take creates ripples and ripples can build into disturbing waves of change.”  These ripples are causing horrifying effects in the Chesapeake Bay.  Fertilizers, chemicals, and nutrients we use, and oil dripping from our cars all get washed into the bay and have caused their famous Atlantic Striped Bass to become infected with disease.  The movie noted one study that found more than half of the bass show signs of infection, having red legions on their body.

          I also pondered on the idea from the movie that we (people) make items out of materials that can last forever (like plastic), yet we only use many of those products for a very short period of time (drinking water from a plastic bottle and then throwing it away).  Some of the plastic we use ends up in the Pacific Ocean.  Birds think the plastic is food and eat it or feed it to their babies.  Then those birds’ stomachs fill with plastic they can’t digest and they die.  It’s a very sad thing that should not be happening.  Humans are not living up to their responsibilities. 

          One of the biggest things that stuck with me from this movie that I will do more research on is that Phenyl A leaks from plastic, even the supposedly non-toxic baby bottles.  I have an eight year old and a four month old daughter.  Like me and everyone I know, they also drink from plastic containers. 

          After watching this educating movie, I will definitely make changes in my life.

~Max G.