Charisma's Story

My commitment:
     After being at Earth Camp for 10 days, having spent 5 of those days on the river, I have seen beautiful water that is being used everyday slowly draining out of the Earth.  After seeing this, I will reduce my water usage.  I have to admit to wasting water everyday mainly by taking showers that are longer than necessary.  I rarely reuse water bottles, which wastes so much plastic.  
     I plan to start taking shorter showers or if not turning off the water in the shower when it is not in use. As for my water bottle use, I will reuse plastic water bottles and be sure to recycle them if I have to discard them.  According to online resources, not recycling plastic water bottles releases BPA into the ground when sent to the landfills.  This BPA causes health problems to those living in the area.   I will also buy a reusable water bottle for everyday use.   


July 15, 2009: Day 8- River/Powell Museum/ Moab RV Park
     Today was the last day on the river.  I had to say goodbye to all the beautiful canyon walls, the dirty river water, the wonderful river guides, and the delicious food.  When the boats hit the shore a little around lunch time, I felt a little upset knowing that I wouldn’t be on the river anymore. I momentarily felt a wave of relief with the thought that I would be taking a shower sometime in the next 3 hours.  That happy thought disappeared when the food for lunch came out and the river guides said good bye.
      When lunch ended, we boarded the bus to the John W. Powell Museum.  The museum was very interesting, but the goodbyes still hung heavily in the air.   As everyone browsed through the museum the heaviness slowly melted away.  
     After an hour and a half of driving, we finally reached the Moab RV Park.  There were many laughs when we were swimming and did some laundry.   About an hour later everyone jumped in the showers and got dressed for the arches. 
     Everyone had so much fun at the arches.  I was in complete awe of these massive rock formations.  The beauty of the orange and brown was amazing!  The climbing up and down the rocks was utterly exhausting, but totally worth it.   After about two hours of being in surrounded nature’s beauty, we finally left. 
     That night I was completely exhausted and fell asleep almost immediately.  I was so tired that I couldn’t think of what could possibly happen in the next day.  Of what the next 24 hours would bring me.   



Retrieved from the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum web site on 03-29-2024
http://www.buffelgrass.org/earthcamp/read2009.php?nid=131