Returning from a really nice family visit to Florida, a few reflections to share….
At a neighborhood lake in Orlando, my son Jack with Audubon bird directory in hand to id the local flock, saw a soda can floating in the lake. 
With his net at the ready, he leaned way over and scooped it up to take back to the recycle bin. ” The ducks and otters who live in this lake are lucky” I told him.
But were they? Just a few minutes later, we noticed a plastic bottle. “And that’s even worse!” Jack then said. Unfortunately that was too far out for us to get, so in a moment of silence we watched it float by – cap and all.
With mixed emotions, I was both proud of Jack recognizing the need to keep our environment clean and more importantly taking action but also dismayed that there are folks still out there who carelessly, thoughtlessly or or out of arrogance litter our lakes and streets. What is it that they don’t get?
A day or two later up the road at New Smyrna Beach, he came across this perfect, pristine and very much alive 
olive shell. With very little shells intact on the beaches anymore, it’s very tempting to just let the snail die and keep the shell and many people might opt to do that. But Jack ran back to the water and tossed him in. We felt this little guy got lucky…or did he?
And then that brought us to the oil disaster. “Mom, do you think he’ll be OK from the oil?” As we looked out on the clear, blue water only 30 miles or so from the Gulf Stream, we could not help but wonder if oil would actually reach these shores too. Feeling the waves roll over our feet, we (or I rather) thought again about the 11 lives lost and their loved ones, the residents and industries being impacted, the wildlife and all the workers helping to clean it up because of thoughtlessness, carelessness and yes, arrogance. But what about my personal dependence on oil? Am I one of those “folks” who are thoughtless, careless and perhaps arrogant as I fill up another tank or use another petroleum based product? What is it that I don’t get?
So… in another moment of silence… we watched our little snail float by – shell and all.
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I just came back from Jacksonville Beach. Everyday we would pick up the shells with the snails still in them & throw them back on the water. And everyday we would see people pick them up & stick them in their pockets. When we would mention they were killing the animal, they would just shrug.
We also picked up other people's trash as we were walking. No excuse for it since their were trash cans all over.
It's hard to believe isn't it, Ann? Especially with trash cans readily available. Thanks for commenting and tossing those little snails back where they belong.