Nature’s Way: Starting 2025 out the right way
By Collins Doughtie
Contributor
Have you ever seen something that irks you to no end, and when you voice your displeasure to someone, all they can say is, “Come on, just let it go.” Maybe to a fault, I am the type of person that has a very hard time letting something go, especially when it affects everybody. I think this tendency stems from my folks, who for my entire life stressed being proactive about issues I feel passionate about.
If you read my column with any regularity, you how passionate I am when it comes to nature and the environment. And when I do see a blatant disregard for nature, I get revved up like nobody’s business. Issues such as litter, billboards, abandoned man-made objects, or plastics in particular, floating on our waters gets me so fired up that sometimes I feel like I’m going to blow. But if I had to pick one area that blows my mind most, it’s when that abuse is so obvious that people can’t help but notice the infraction, yet they do nothing is done to rectify the problem.
What set me off on this quest for justice? It was a combination of things. The first thing, which is near and dear to my heart, was the recent dismal report regarding the status of the May River. Fecal matter, storm water runoff, and with all the construction going on, it can only get worse. Since I live a block away from May, almost without exception, every house within spitting distance of the river is on septic tanks. With that said, I am a guilty party to the decline of the May, but not by choice. The cost to connect to the county water treatment system is cost prohibitive. Isn’t it time to make connecting to this system affordable for everyone with septic tanks? The way I see it, in the long run, Beaufort-Jasper Water and Sewer would make out like bandits, and at the same time, give the May River a chance to recover before it is too late.
When I was thinking about this a few days ago as a possible subject for my column, I began seeing crimes against the environment everywhere. It was like the first time you see a word that you have never seen before, and almost like magic, it starts appearing everywhere you look. I guess the human brain needs to be jump-started before it really goes into action.
For me, that jump-start came when I decided to do some exploring in the Savannah River. I hauled my boat to the new Hullahan Bridge just before you get to Port Wentworth, Ga. My plan was to head down river and see if I could find a few some spots for striped bass, a fish I rarely target except during cold winter days. Anyone that has driven through this industrial area has been rewarded with a smell that is hard to miss. Akin to rotten eggs, I have wondered for years how the folks in Port Wentworth can stand that smell. Ask old-schoolers in Savannah about the odor and their answer is, “That’s just the smell of money!” Now, I have never gotten down and smelled a dollar bill, but I seriously doubt it smells like that. My question is this: How do these companies get away with spewing that stuff into our air day after day? Doesn’t anyone care that chemicals are being poured into the atmosphere? I guarantee if I were to develop a machine that could duplicate that smell and set it up in my backyard, it wouldn’t take long before I was told to shut it down or else.
As I headed down river, the amount of abandoned equipment lying in the water was staggering. Old sunken barges, oily discharges from pipes pouring into the river, plus thousands upon thousands of pieces of steel, plastic and old tires. You name it, and it was there. Doesn’t anybody care? Closer to home, the same disregard for the environment is going on, and sadly, the majority of us pass right by without thinking twice about what the long-term effects it is having on this once pristine area. Trash both on land and in the water is everywhere. Doesn’t anybody care?
Junker cars, old appliances and all manner of trash can be found even in the most remote areas, not to mention the “pure” water sold in plastic bottles that will take those bottles centuries or more to disintegrate. What on earth are we thinking? The answer is, we’re not.
Today’s society is most definitely the “throw away” culture. For the sake of convenience and the almighty dollar, we are willing to forsake the planet on which we live. The next time you go get a burger, fries and a Coke, look at the volume of trash that comes with that one meal. Unless we all open our eyes very soon, we are going to eat ourselves right out of house and home.
Collins Doughtie is a 60-year resident of the Lowcountry, is a sportsman, graphic artist and lover of nature. collinsdoughtie@icloud.com
