Own your Environment!

According to Oxford dictionary, Environment is defined ‘as the surroundings or conditions in which a person, animal, or plant lives or operates’. So we can say the environment is a home for all things -a big house. This invariably means that all human activities are sustained and carried out within the environment. The air we breathe, the birds making sonorous sounds, the flowing river with different species of fish, the cooling ambience of the trees, the different weather… all in balance to sustain living. It’s a perfect design by the creator.

Just like the house we live in, we interact both with the living and non-living things and our homes are the reflection of our interaction; lack of care for the ‘living’ things will cause chaos and affect our peace of mind. When we don’t properly maintain the non-living things the place is messed up and vice-versa. There is a sense of ownership. ‘It’s my house’, if I don’t keep it clean no one will’. Often this thinking keeps us in proper view of our homes.

United Nations has declared June 5 of every year as world environment day. This is to consciously make people, government and industries see the need to measure their activities as is relate to the environment. It’s an open secret that with industrialization, deforestation, burning of fossil fuels like coal and oil, the climate and environment has been experiencing negative change, causing global warming, sea rising leading to flood, drought, reducing crops and plants yields posing risk for food security, food safety and human health.

Everyone seems to be looking away from the devastating effect of this global phenomenal. Have you considered the way waste are generated and disposal? What of plastics which do not decompose until centuries? And you know what? All these things we produce daily. It’s sounding scary right? Fire is on the mountain no one seems to be on the run.

More needed to be done, much danger lies in the current state of the earth. We need to own our environment and act against the climate change. It starts with you. 1. Speak up and educate others; let people see the danger of climate change and how to act against it. 2. Encourage the use of renewable energy (solar and wind energy) 3. Proper disposal of waste; keep the environment clean and encourage recycling. 3. Get political and vote; support candidates who show commitment to reduce global warming. 4. Reduce the use of fossil fuels, rather than use your car, make use of the public transport or bicycle. 5. Afforestation; tree and flower planting help a great deal. 6. Support or join youth led movement; many youth groups are out there that are involved into global warming awareness.

In the words of Leonardo Di Carpio (Actor and Environmentalist), “climate change is real. It is happening right now. It is the most urgent threat facing our entire species and we need to work collectively together and stop procrastinating” Former president of USA Barrack Obama has it this way “we are the first generation to feel the effect climate change and the last generation who can do something about it”

We clearly have seen why this generation must rise to fix the earth. We have to own it like our houses and practically work towards changing the world.