>Spend your time and dollars supporting the environmental organisations
>such as Audubon and the Nature Conservancy.
>Forget the politics and just get on with the job of cleaning the mess up.

Is there any other way to prevent environmental destruction than through
politics?

Audubon, Nature Conservancy, Sierra Club, ..., motivate, facilitate, invent,
and do, but only in political contexts that provide them with an
opportunity to be effective. That environmentally conscientious
political climate isn't robust (in fact, at the moment is is quite frail),
and must be significantly strengthened.

Whether you work towards this objective via those organizations, or
otherwise, it is our political/legal system's lack of environmental support
that is the mess which must be cleaned up.

Environmental education of the ambivalent and of the unknowledgeable
citizen is the other "job" that must be made significantly more
effective. This group may be the silent (or perhaps the inattentive and
unaware) majority we often refer to (so hopefully but futilely until they
get motivated).

I don't think we have a more cheap and universally available solution
to our environmental problems than the (political) ballot box.
Peter