“I believe in God, only I spell it Nature."
-- Frank Lloyd Wright
Earth Day, celebrated annually on April 22, may be the one day that aims at transcending all boundaries of
culture, language, and tradition.
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| Let’s save the planet! Shall we? |
The Pertaining Questions
As I blog this one from my office desk, seated comfortably from my air conditioned cubicle, surrounded by several grim-faced working class heroes, I wonder do we really require a special day to feel overjoyed for our planet?
Do we really need a day marked on the calendar to commemorate that one place where all of us belong?
Do we actually require a single day to feel that sudden urge of awareness and responsibility for taking measures to protect our Earth?
Don’t we have better things to worry about already? Can’t the Earth take care of itself?
Oh wait, I have to get back to that script I was creating. That’s what actually should matter to me for my sustenance. Isn’t it?
Who gives a damn about that pale blue dot anyway?
Not that I am a sadist, or against observing a single day when some of us, are overwhelmed with exuberance in showing how much we love and care for our mother Earth.
By the way, did you check out the doodle today?
Yes, for most of us, it is just another day. Meanwhile, my news feed is being flooded with several captivating articles and insights about this special day.
Be it Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, I surely have several thought-provoking articles to meditate on! And these posts do save the planet too. So does my blog post. So does the Earth Anthem.
"For 200 years we've been conquering nature. Now we're beating it to death."
-- Tom McMillan
About Earth Day
Scientists estimate the Earth’s age at over 4.5 billion years, but its Day has only existed for 46.
Earth Day inspires all of us to appreciate our big blue and green orb with events big and small, ranging from family hiking trips to citywide recycling initiatives.
Originally conceived by peace activist John McConnell in 1969, Earth Day as we know it was established by U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson a year later.
Concerned about humanity’s impact on the natural world, Nelson sought to raise public awareness of environmental issues by devoting a day to environmental events and education.
Since its inception, Earth Day has spread to nearly 200 countries, with millions of celebrants all around the world.
The Pertaining Issues
We human beings constitute the most successful species on Earth!
We thrive on every continent on the globe. We add one billion of ourselves, net gain, every 12 years. We expect to add at least three billion more of ourselves by mid-century and ever more after that.
From 7.1 billion in 2013, we could double to 14 billion by the end of this century.
Along the way, billions of us live in utter misery and starvation cycles. Over 10 million children and eight million adults starve to death annually or die of starvation related diseases. That doesn't deter our species from producing ever more of ourselves as we add that 80 million net gain annually.
Funny thing about Mother Nature, however, she brings a reckoning to all species who overshoot the carrying capacity of any finite land mass.
She kills without guilt, shame, temperance or concern. She kills slowly or quickly. A few or a few million! She kills without mercy or conscience.
And we think nature is fucked?
There are several core issues that can be identified and tackled at various levels.
Yes, we have been an audience to lengthy discussions and case studies. Many of us are well aware of potential threat(s) to our existence. The Internet is flooded with links, that meticulously highlight several threats to our existence.
I believe the biggest threat to human existence is humans themselves.
The Hopeless Helplessness
Several environmentalists think we humans have already crossed the point of no return - having hit the threshold and being completely unaware of it- tardily drifting towards a global catastrophic risk.
We simply go around with our daily routine, consuming mindlessly, blatantly ignoring warning signs, acting as if we have a plethora of resource to sustain human lineage to sprout on this holy planet, failing to correct ourselves, letting each of our corrupt acts bring more tears to the ailing mother Earth!
When/How will we understand?
It is not the Earth that needs us, the planet had and will survive even without humans thriving on it. It is us humans who are in a greater need to preserve and conserve the only home we have!
“Only when the last tree has died and the last river been poisoned and the last fish been caught will we realize we cannot eat money.”-- Cree Indian proverb
The Impromptu Solution(s)
We often wonder what we can do, when the world seems to be spinning out of control.
Yet you're alive with a gift. You're here because you have a gift.
You're reading this because there is something inside you that knows it's time to Master that gift and bring it out to the world.
Where do you start?
Hence, the age-old question, How can I help?
A simple google search returns many interesting links on how making very simple changes to our daily routine, we can bring about a conscious change to our planet.
Here is a link, that lists 350 ways to save the world!
Or another giving 50 ways to help our planet.
Try watching a perfect documentary on Saving Planet Earth.
> Here is a quick list collating some simple practices you can inculcate consciously in your daily routine, that will sure contribute towards a healthy and happier planet Earth:
🌎 Swap out your light bulbs. Switch to CFLs.
🌎 Turn off the lights when walking out!
🌎 Plant a tree or three. Be a part of #TheGreenWaveChallenge (Visit the facebook page, if you're game!)
🌎 Go paperless. Paperless bills. Paperless writing. Refuse duplicate bill slips. Use the least amount of tissues (Carry a handkerchief, or two if u are a wet person!)
🌎 Go for nature walks. Go for a jungle trek. Only when you get really close to mother nature to appreciate its beauty and essence, will your inner self-guide your actions towards preserving the planet.
🌎 Drive the speed limit. This one may be the hardest one. Driving the speed limit increases your miles per gallon, in turn saving you bucks at the pump.
🌎 Carry your own water bottle. Reduce the amount of plastic water bottle waste in the world by carrying your own
🌎 Recycle at work. Most people do it at home, but there are a shocking number of offices and workplaces that don't recycle. Just think about the amount of wasted paper that could be recycled but instead is being thrown away with the trash!
Endless possibilities lay ahead us, our destiny is in our hands. Nature was and will be fine without us. It is we who need to understand our dependency on our fragile environment and the urgency to grow sensitive towards it.
Embrace the beauty of your surrounding. Feel the benign presence of the nurturing mother.
Understand, that we are one in this journey, that the Earth is our home, where it all started, and will end one day.
In the end, it is all about the choices we make.
“Sooner or later, we will have to recognize that the Earth has rights, too, to live without pollution. What mankind must know is that human beings cannot live without Mother Earth, but the planet can live without humans.”
-- Evo Morales
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