Knit a sweater, save a penguin
by DANIELLE OSTRAGER
Graphics Editor
Skeinz, a yarn store in Napier, New Zealand, is requesting that people donate knitted sweaters for penguins who are suffering from the country’s oil spill.
On October 5, 2011 a cargo ship ran aground, spilling 350 tons of oil into the ocean surrounding New Zealand, destroying the penguins’ habitat. This tragic event resulted in the loss of more than 1,000 birds—who didn’t even receive a funeral in their memory.
The impoverished penguins have lost their homes and, yet, are highly neglected by the people. When Hurricane Irene flooded New Jersey’s towns, not one, but multiple organizations began immediate relief efforts. Yet when the penguins experience a disaster, they receive little to no help.
Skeinz is asking for donations to help the penguins. The organization is asking for knitted sweaters to help protect the penguins that still survive. The “penguin jumpers” are designed to keep the birds warm and prevent them from consuming the oil when preening their feathers—plus, they look absolutely adorable!
Hopefully, the effort will be a success. New Zealand’s penguins can be warm, safe and in style if people help out. A whole line of sweaters just for penguins!
We send our cats, dogs, even our gerbils to the vet for something as small as a cut or a sneeze, but the penguins remain without medical assistance. This is truly unfair. A penguin is definitely more important than a small furry rat that chews up everything in sight!
Too few people are coming to the defense of the penguins, who are suffering much more than a large majority of the population. I do not believe that needing to get your eyebrows waxed or nails done because it has been a whole two weeks since you went to the salon is worth crying over, especially when the penguins in New Zealand have lost their homes and their own habitat is poisoning them. So stop painting your nails and go knit them a sweater!
Junior Alexis Andreola says, “I would definetly knit them a sweater, but I do not know how to knit. Anyone that knows how to knit should support the effort.”
Learning to knit, or simply a knitting a sweater is a small sacrifice to save a penguin. We should be doing everything we can to help out. People need to stop staring at the penguin’s pictures, even though they look simply irresistible, and knit them a sweater! But not just any sweater, a nice one. We wouldn’t want our penguins dressed in cheap, ugly sweaters.
Now is the time for all the knitters of the world, and non-knitters (you can learn!) to show off their talents and make themselves useful. By knitting a sweater the size of a regular sock, a penguin can be saved.
The penguins would greatly appreciate the help; it’s the least we can do since our careless pollution has caused this natural disaster.