The Other Road Essay, Research Paper

The Other Road

Rachel Carson- Silent Spring

Perhaps if we as a whole, the human race, had taken the road less traveled by, our environment would not be in the trouble it is in today. Our only way to ensure survival of species is to take the other road, to try to reverse the damage we have already done. Yet, it might be too late, although we will never know if we do not try.

The other road is the one we have chosen not to take. We travel the road that promotes death and deterioration. By traveling on this road, we are not moving towards a sustainable environment. We have been moving towards destruction and continuing on this path will have devastating effects.

In the past few years, we have tried to reverse our choices, and travel down the other road. We have taken steps to use alternatives to many of the ways we live today. Instead of using chemical poisons for control of insects, we look towards turning the strength of a species against itself, sterilizing male organisms, and using natural enemies. We haven ft put these into regular and consistent use because of the time and money gone into testing products. It is much cheaper to use our old ways of controlling insects, and much more timely.

The road is of course worth taking. If it is proven to be ineffective, it is just a bump along our road to sustainability. If we do not take it, we will never know if it would have saved our earth. It is our responsibility to take the road until we find a solution to the problem.

Present day, there are many more concerns with the environment. There is a population explosion that has grown tremendously since Rachel Carson wrote her book. Now, not only do we have to worry about our food being poisoned by chemicals, but also worry about there not being enough food to feed everyone. If the book would have been written today, the population growth would be a major concern.

I do not think Rachel Carson would be very pleased with the state of our environment today. Even though her book has made people question what we are doing, it is not enough to make people change their lifestyle for the good of future generations. As I have said before, I think she would be very concerned with the growth of the population, and I think she would agree that the cause is the lack of education among developing countries.

As Robert Frost stated in his poem, gTwo roads diverged in a wood, and I I took the one less traveled by, And it has made all the difference. h Maybe if we take the road less traveled by, it will make a difference.