It has been a sad week.  The situation in the Gulf of Mexico is dire and will require an unprecedented amount help to clean up the mess made by BP.  It will take years to repair the damage to the ecosystem, and it may never be the same again.

To watch the news is like watching a documentary about the effects of oil spills, accept unfortunately, what is happening in the Gulf is real and the disaster is unfolding before our eyes.  Within a week's time, the fragile ecosystems that support a huge amount of this country's biodiversity is being destroyed in one fell swoop.  I am so angry on so many levels!  It is frustrating as a parent to try so hard to save nature, albeit in a small way, by assuring a connection between it and my children, and by helping other parents do the same, to then see it destroyed so easily.   This week, it seems, I am fighting a losing battle.

It  is my generation, Generation X, that will responsible for passing a planet in such poor shape on to our children.  How will we explain ourselves? Granted, many environmental problems we have today began under the watch of previous generations, but we have an unprecedented amount of  knowledge and tools to change it.  But do we have the desire?  It often seems like we are sitting back and allowing the destruction.   In a time that everyone knows how damaging our dependence on oil is to the environment, we continue to drive gas guzzling vehicles, live in inefficient homes and support political agendas that allow us to live with blinders on, all the while driving continued demand.  This in turn, promotes the need for offshore drilling, drilling in the pristine wilds of Alaska and the plains of our country and in beautiful deserts and wild lands in other parts of the world.  We know the risks to the environment and, in turn, ourselves, our well being and our children's future, yet so continues the status quo. What message are we sending to our children?

Pelicans, sea turtles, shrimp, crabs, herons, ducks, oysters, jellyfish, dolphins, bluefish, sharks and the thousands of other species that inhabit the Gulf of Mexico and marshlands that surround it are currently paying the price of our negligence.  Rather than continue to be hypocritical and teach one way and act another, we can change.  We can tell our children that what has happened in the Gulf  is not acceptable.  We can do everything in our power to make little changes, such as changing the light bulbs in our houses to energy efficient ones and by turning off our computers.  We can also make big changes by purchasing hybrids and other more efficient vehicles.  We can teach our children by setting the example.

As we watch the scene in the Gulf states unfold, it is easy to feel helpless.  However, there are ways  to help.  Please consider donating money to the many organizations involved with the clean up.  Below are several ideas to help you and your children raise money .

1) Set up a lemonade stand an donate the proceeds
2) Organize a play group at the park and collect donations.
3) Make them responsible for collecting spare change around the house
4) Instead of buying milk at school for the week, save the change
5) Ask the to make a craft and sell it to family friends and neighbors.  Let them know them proceeds will help the oil clean up.

Check NBC Nightly News for daily updates of organizations accepting donations.  There is also a website just for kids named Together Green that is accepting donations.  Let's use this tragedy to teach our children that nature is worth saving by doing the right thing!