It's been over two weeks since I jumped in front of the television cameras in that crazy hat, did three bird calls and tried my best to shout "Stop Deforestation." What pushed me out and beyond that line of cameras to make a spectacle of myself in the name of environmental activism?
It's taken me 40 years living on this planet to realize that I needed to break out of my comfort zone and do "something."
As a father of six children, I am often guided by President John F. Kennedy's famous remark that "we all inhabit this small planet, we all breathe the same air and we all cherish our children's future." I'm shocked by how many of us regard our international borders as giant protective curtains, not realizing that a tree in Brazil is a tree on Earth and part of a delicate, yet global, ecosystem that gives life to us all.
We've become too far removed from images of scarred landscapes, the result of clear cutting, or crying children from indigenous tribes driven from their homes. It's time to stop the relentless push of corporate steel and loggers, who, like crazed surgeons with their chainsaws, recklessly tearing through the lungs of our precious planet.
To think that a tree that sprouted up from the Earth when Julius Caesar was in control of Rome, could be cut down, sold for $200 and turned into toilet paper never fails to upset me.
It's that same corporate greed that sealed the fate of 95 percent of California's majestic redwoods, a level of plunder that was only halted after an unlikely group of activists, tree huggers, whistleblowers, loggers and a family of billionaires stepped in to protect what remained of some of the world's oldest living beings.
This sorry state of affairs is being played out across the globe as Greenpeace is finding paper fibre from ancient trees, turning up in everything from toilet rolls to fast food packaging.
When faced with such problems in distant lands, it's easy to ask what difference a single person can make. The fact is that the real power lies with the dollars, pounds and euros we individually control and how we choose to spend them.
The definition of an activist is one who tries to promote, impede or direct social, political, economic or environmental change. It doesn't mean making a fool of yourself on international TV and running the risk of getting arrested. Leave that to crazy people like me.
If you think about and control what you spend your money on then you send a powerful message. The result? You won't have to wait for our governments to take action or for corporations to become ethical guardians of our planet's natural resources. You can take immediate action against the destruction of our planets remaining forests by making wise choices every time you go shopping for household goods.
I do apologize to Webb Simpson for interrupting his special moment. I hope that if he, Mike Davis, or Bob Costas ever read this, they will consider the few seconds we shared on camera as a catalyst.
I hope in some small way I encourage you to take positive action to protect this beautiful planet we all call home.
At the end of the day there is NO challenge in this world that cannot be solved by people power. Jungle Bird will continue with his random, non-violent and peaceful (well sort of) form of protest, in the hope that it will continue to direct much needed attention to this important issue.
Yet if we are to succeed, we must work together as a cohesive group. Your lone voice, when added to hundreds, thousands and even millions, can make a huge difference and can turn the tide on the most impossible of situations.
So lets reach out to our family and friends, to those who share a deep sense of duty towards our planets future and join me at JungleBird.org and together lets do whats necessary to protect our home for our children's children, and their children, 100, 500 and a 1000 years from now!