Speech

Shayna Clark

Mr. Logsdon

AP Lang & Comp

11 December 2011

When you see a piece of trash on the ground, what do you do? Do you just leave it there, and assume someone else will pick it up, or do you take the extra two seconds to throw it away? Or are you even the one to blame for the litter being there in the first place? We are all guilty of this crime, of assuming someone else will fix our problems, when we don’t bother to fix theirs. While littering is an appalling act, not doing something about it is even worse. But this isn’t about littering. The reason I am here is to address the ongoing problem facing our society, our nation, and our world. We’ve all heard about global warming and the extinction of many endangered animals, but how many of you have done anything about it? Have you taken shorter showers, recycled more, or made any sort of effort? Maybe once or twice, but not as much as you should. I know, because I am culpable for these things as well.

If someone tells you to do something, but doesn’t give you an incentive, or a threat to make you do it, would you do it? To be honest, probably not. If we weren’t afraid of getting zeros or getting grounded, would we do our schoolwork? I know I wouldn’t. Without consequences, we wouldn’t have responsibilities. So why shouldn’t we work to protect our world? There are definitely consequences, much worse than those awaiting us if we don’t get the score we want on our next test. Imagine the boardwalks in Miami crawling with crabs and filled with fish. If the current rate of sea level rising continues, our oceans will rise by 2 feet in the next century, and even more after that. What can we do? There’s the usual things, like carpooling and using eco-friendly products, but another easy way of reducing your impact is by only running a dishwasher or laundry machine when it’s full, which even saves time in the long run so that you don’t have to spend more time loading and unloading multiple washes. This simple change can save you up to $115 a year and 800 pounds of carbon dioxide from being released into the atmosphere. Easy, huh? Then DO IT. Don’t expect everyone else to do it for you.

When I was little, I had an obsession with tiger stuffed animals. I loved them, and seeing the tigers at the zoo only strengthened that love. Soon, however, my old toys may be considered similar to the dinosaur toys many other children have. That is, they may become extinct. Sure, there are tigers living in captivity, but only 1500 to 2500 still live in the wild, and that number is decreasing dramatically. It depresses me to think about the little boys and girls who may share my youthful love of tigers, but will never have the opportunity to see them. Why should I be lucky enough to see these majestic creatures while my children, or their children, can’t? I say it’s not fair. Poaching is of the main reasons for the drop in wild tigers. 78% of tiger deaths are a result of poaching wild tigers for their teeth, fur, bones, and claws. Tiger bone wine in China and India is considered to “stave off chills, improve circulation, and eliminate fatigue.” How disgusting is that? Would you want to drink any kind of beverage with pulverized bones in it? I know I wouldn’t. The fact that they are tiger bones is even worse. We can’t do much directly to halt this extinction, but there are many anti-poaching groups, such as 21st Century Tiger, the Tigris Foundation, and the World Wildlife Foundation that fight tooth and nail to stop the destruction of the tiger. These groups, however, cannot do thing work on their own. They need donations, no matter how small, to increase forest patrols to catch poachers, raise awareness in local communities about the importance of the tiger to the habitat they make their homes in, and, among other things, work with politicians to strengthen laws against poaching and illegal trading. It’s one thing to say “that’s so terrible!” and another to make a few clicks of your mouse and donate a few dollars to stop the extinction. $16 could put one anti-poaching patrol in the field for a full day. $32 could buy a pair of walkie-talkies to help rangers communicate in the jungle. $47 could buy a bike for a ranger to move more swiftly through the forests to stop poaching. $78 could pay for two days of training for an anti-poaching sniffer dog. $157 dollars could completely pay for the training of one field officer in anti-poaching techniques and tiger monitoring in Nepal. Could you go without a videogame to make a small contribution to the anti-poaching cause? If you can, then go do it. Don’t just think about it.

There is no better saying to conclude my speech than “Actions speak louder than words.” I am asking you for a few small sacrifices in exchange for the life of an innocent animal, or to save our world. I’m not asking you to do anything difficult, only to make an effort. It’s one thing to have people tell you what you should do, but it’s another to make yourself act on their words, or even your own words. Don’t assume that someone else is going to take care of it. Don’t push the problems we all need to address onto someone else’s shoulders, because you have no guarantee that they will complete the task and take action. Don’t just say you’ll do something. Just do it. Then you will have nothing more to prove.

"Tiger Facts." Bigcatrescue.org. Big Cat Rescue. Web.

"TIGERS – How Can We Can Stop Extinction of It for Future Generation?" ITUCU. Web. 11 Dec. 2011.

"Simple Ways to Stop Global Warming." Help Stop Global Warming. Web. 11 Dec. 2011.

"'It's Really Good Stuff': Undercover at a Chinese Tiger Bone Wine Auction."Guardian.co.uk. Environment Blog. Web. .

"Tigers in Crisis | WWF UK." WWF UK. Web. 11 Dec. 2011. .