reflect.

Recently I came across Dr. Jane Goodall’s post on Facebook and there are no truer words spoken about the way we treat earth.

“We must remember that we have not inherited this planet from our parents, we have borrowed it from our children. But we have not been borrowing their future, we have stolen it and we keep stealing it.”

Just because we live here all our lives, we tend to take the earth for granted and treat it as we wish. Humans create and innovate throughout the centuries to improve lives but today we are driven by greed and our focus is more than just providing for mankind but to gain from it. This has lead to massive destruction and we unintentionally contribute to destroying the earth as we catch up with the changes in this world. I read a post by Adrian Grenier, the founder of Lonely Whale Foundation about pollution and the ocean and in his article he mentioned that the amount of plastic we use daily is enough to wrap around the earth two and a half times each day. That was based on the plastic usage by US population, imagine taking into account the plastic usage by world population. And that is just one of the many kind of pollution we create in our daily lives. We build buildings and compete which country has the tallest skyscrapper, we cut down trees so we can change it to a concrete jungle instead, we kill animals so we can make money out of its skin, tusk,teeth,head and god knows what else. There are so many things we do without realizing that it is indeed harming nature. We feel indifferent because we don’t see how it affects our surrounding but in truth what we do kills nature and this is a reflection to all of us, me included to always think of others human beings and environment before doing something. Simple little things like before throwing unwanted items, we should consider recycling it. Find a way to reuse your clothes instead of constantly buying new ones and throw the old ones. Never waste your food (I try my best not to most of the time). Plant trees ! I’ve always wondered why we clear up forest just so we can build endless buildings when the forest is definitely a mightier and finer view for the eyes. I’m sure we can live without transforming all the land on earth into a profitable development area. We must always remind ourselves that living our lives, it is not a race. Being able to build the most grand, exotic, unique skyscrapper does not mean that you are greater than other beings. It is not a competition when what you do destroy others. And just because what you destroy have no voice, that doesn’t mean it can’t show you the consequences of your actions. We are here to coexist with all beings in the world. Not to be superior of one another. Some people take this lightly and with a scoff simply brush away these words and assume that this is an environmentalist’s thoughts. But if you read enough about the pollution around the world and what damage it has caused and how it will affect our future, your common sense will tell you this much; we should change and do something. I know it is not easy to change, trust me even I can’t do everything without harming the planet. But I try and educate myself constantly on how I can change things, especially the ones I do daily. A little effort by everyone makes a huge difference to the world. It is important to have that awareness in us, so we don’t take things for granted. If the earth is my house, I would be crying to see the state of my house and all the damage done. I would try my best to fix my house and make it beautiful again. I would stop doing things that cause damage to my house and I would decorate it with flowers and fresh air so that I feel at peace. If the earth is your house, would you do the same; protect and cherish it instead of leaving it to permanent damage? This is after all the place we call home for everyone and everything.