Has the thought that we actually don’t have any kind of second planet to dive to if pandemics are hitting us or climate change is destroying the planet lurked to your minds? It has in mine…
That the existence of this world is the thing that enables living for us, we don’t enable much for the planet? I understand if planet saving and climate change feel like such distant subjects and more like something you just watch Arnold Schwarzenegger making movies about, world coming to an end, etc… But Corona’s little springy jump among humankind might have brought the idea a little closer to our personal lives that maybe we are connected after all.
Maybe there is something we could do for the planet and humankind. Even if it would be doing it for your own benefit. That you have a chance to live the way you wish and keep reaching towards your goals and dreams. Without planet and other people those are impossible, never becoming real. So well-functioning planet Earth would be nice right?
Let’s think about this situation with Corona for example. This whole thing might have brought a healthy note to some that everything might not be under humanity’s control from beginning to end. There are bigger and more powerful phenomena and forces that we cannot control. Not even with money or fame.
The fact, that we don’t have control about some aspects of this world perhaps means that there is something bigger than us.
If something is bigger than us, it would be a bit foolish not to respect it, notice it, or to think that it won’t touch my life too, right? Yes, everybody agrees. Great, this is going better than I expected :P.
So why or how don’t we then care in our daily living what we are doing to this planet? Is there any way to correct that attitude that we would understand the role and responsibility of our daily actions? That even the littlest things are better than not doing anything or harming everything even more? Why we have this thought “it does not matter what I do today, for example in recycling, because China/India/USA/whatever…?”
If it truly would not matter at all what you do today, why do anything? We all happen to be in this same boat together and the waves underneath are rocking the boat, adjusting to the changes in the world and sometimes the boat might fall over if it gets stormy. Hopefully we have noticed this during COVID. It can have quite an impact if someone eats a bat in China.
If those Joe Schmoes at the batmarkets of China would have known that their culinary moments would have global consequences, would they still have munched the bats? Some would have skipped the meal – some not because :
“It doesn’t matter what I do”
“It can’t spread from me”
“It does not matter if I die because of it and I want to enjoy this bat because I have deserved it” (-> And I will spread the disease-)
So my feelings about all this are little bit like that we just are good at avoiding the responsibility if we can. We are often looking for excuses that we would not have to be the ones doing something for the planet. We get to be selfish and live a convenient, easy life because the consequences have not been touching our daily lives. But at the same time we are definitely harming it. Ok peeps, I know this does not touch all of you! I am toning it down 🙂
We cannot stop all the disasters from happening but we do have a chance to take much, much better care of the world and reduce the “self-inflicted” catastrophies. And I am not an angel for sure, I am in the same boat with many in this…
I fly a lot during one year, I do use to-go cups with their plastic lids a lot (yeah I am a spiller) and I know, how big of baggage I am to the world because of some of my habits. I have been a vegetarian/”home-vegan” for years for the planet and animals. Not for myself. I am telling this because I get asked a lot why I don’t eat meat. Well, I just really want to spare the lives of animals and save the planet. There is still a lot of work left to do haha!
So hey hey guess what?! One amazing thing is that what we do today, you and me, can also support our loved ones and significant others in the future. So if you don’t care about yourself, what happens to you or turtles dying because of our plastic mania, care about your close ones please? 🙂 Maybe they would want to live in a healthy, not dying, planet and see coral reefs, jungle animals, life on the savanna, penguins’ wobbly walk and so on. Life without masks and the ability to touch other people. LIFE. We can give life a much better chance also in the future. As individuals, communities, and humankind. If all of us take even a bit of a responsibility – it will have an impact.
Lastly a couple tips for those who want to know more and 4 min video for everyone. Or just 3 minutes of it to get the idea.
*Before the Flood. A great documentary about climate change by Leonardo DiCaprio. Not a preaching documentary but very well filmed on how climate changes really affects in different parts of the world. Get it rolling this weekend from Netflix!
*Cowspiracy. Another eye-opening documentary about environment and how one person actually can have an impact. It is not about the cruelty towards animals, so no need to worry about that 🙂 (I just can’t watch that kind of thing at all).
Thank you for reading <3
Saana