Everyday action for change

Saturday, 23 April 2016 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Earth Day has become one of the most widely-celebrated environmental events across the globe. On this day, events are held worldwide to increase awareness and appreciation of the Earth’s natural environment. Currently it is celebrated in more than 192 countries each year.

Earth Day is all about appreciating the uniqueness of our planet Earth with its incredible biodiversity. On this day various national and international activities are conducted to understand the biodiversity and how should we protect our nature – plants, animals and environment.

Numerous organisations around the country hold large-scale block parties and learning experiences to educate others about the importance of the holiday. Regardless of whether you go to an event or not, anyone can celebrate Earth Day everyday by being more aware of his/her carbon footprint and doing anything in their power to limit their impact on the environment.

Turning off lights and appliances in empty rooms, turning off running water, recycling and composting, and ensuring all your trash ends up in a trash bin are each ways anyone can celebrate the worldwide holiday. Also try to increase the amount of walking, cycling or that most shunned of Sri Lankan pastimes; taking public transport.

Even something as simple as stopping the purchase of bottled water or plastic food containers and taking a tote bag to the shop can make a huge difference to the environment and something that can be easily practiced with a bit of planning and bulk buying.

Going paperless is another environmentally popular effort that is made easy with the advent of technology, particularly the smart phone that can be used to easily transport and access information. In fact people can add the Earth Mode Google Chrome extension to their browser to monitor their energy use and ensure that their everyday actions make a real difference.

Planting trees is not necessarily possible given the limited garden space most people have nowadays but larger tree planning efforts can be backed by organisations and individuals. This is all the more important when one can see inspiring stories online of one person responsible for planning thousands of trees over a lifetime and in some instances saving the way of life of their people. If an individual can make such a difference then imagine what hundreds of people can do?

For developing countries the quest against climate change and poverty often intersect but are overshadowed by larger economic considerations. In rural Bangladesh villagers have been shot fighting the central Government’s plans to build two coal power plants funded by China. As Sri Lanka also moves forward on its power policies the prospect of coal power becomes ever more imminent even though it is destructive to the environment and people living in Sampur.

While lobbying for climate friendly policies is important, there is also much that people, like you and I, fail to do simply because we cannot be bothered. With the planet at stake, each person has to hold themselves to a higher standard.