I wish to end this presentation with an optimistic note:

We do not have to accept this:

or this:

Or a whole range of desirable options or combinations there of.

As any pilot knows, no matter how experienced or knowledgeable one is, if you do not know what it is that you are flying, where you are, or where you want to go, all other information is irrelevant data.

We may still have 20 to 40 years left to set a desirable course. If that is to happen, I believe we need to begin within our families, schools, clubs and communities. However we can only consider ourselves to be effective if we see positive change in our attitudes, in the quality of our relationships, the quality of our food and in the health of our landscapes.

What I have attempted to outline, lies beyond politics. I believe that Rotary and any other international organization could help play a pivotal role in promoting Environmental Literacy. This however should not stop each of us (as individuals) from making those thousands of daily decisions in a way that will head us in a more desirable direction.

Whether or not you are a Rotarian, or the member of some club or organization, if you were able to read the above you are a member of the human family and there is nothing stopping you from making use of the environmental 4-way test.

COMMUNITY DYNAMICS?
ENERGY FLOW?
MINERAL CYCLE?
WATER CYCLE?

IS IT FAIR TO ALL ORGANISMS CONCERNED?
HOW BENEFICIAL IS THE SUN LIGHT TO THE FOOD CHAIN?
IS IT GOOD OR GETTING BETTER?
IS IT TRULY EFFECTIVE?

However, please be aware that there is a limit to how much one can say with only a few letters…

To be, or not to be… (Shakespeare, using 6 different letters)
To be is not to be. (Sartre, using 7 different letters)
Do be do be do… (Sinatra, using 4 different letters)

If it is to be it is up to me… (Practical wisdom, using 10 different letters)

We encourage you learn a few more! (It can actually be fun!)