Eco-Art Competition 2022

A few years ago I stood at the top of Rattlesnake Mountain (located in Washington) looking down upon the trees that seemed to go on for miles and miles. I wondered to myself, “Is it really possible that all these trees could be chopped down one day? There’s so much of it.” But I was naive and failed to realize that indeed this was possible, in fact, it had already happened countless times before. And this is exactly why I illustrated this piece: to represent the reality of the world we have today. It’s important to me to let not others fall into the thinking that this earth has infinite resources. One might say we can’t help it, the human population and needs are just growing and growing and we need more space to expand. I’ll respond to that by saying this: Did you know that if every human on earth consumed as much as an average American did, we’d need four earths to sustain us? The bottom line is, if we keep clearing areas and expanding, we’re setting our future generations for failure. Emissions from factories are suffocating and polluting the air, leading to respiratory problems all over the planet. Big machines for deforestation are adding to Global Warming by using fossil fuels. We also can’t forget that we share this earth with other species, losing around 137 species of plants, animals, and insects due to deforestation every single day. So what can we do? We might not be able to reverse the damage already caused, but we sure can stop it. All it takes is planting one seed at a time and restoring the balance of nature. I hope that children all around the world can come together and realize that we CAN and WILL make a difference.