Change the world

Brought Cayen and Cayson to the zoo yesterday. Saw a lot of adults and children and all were in awe of the animals that they are seeing and how everybody seemed to really love the animals , from snakes and tortoises to elephants and giraffes.  However, the sad part is that many of these animals are already endangered and may become extinct very shortly. I fear for the future of our children as they will inherit an unlivable planet from us - very hot weather, plastics in our oceans and seafood, increased sea levels, extinct wildlife... Many years down the road, they will all ask why we didn’t do anything when we could. 



If we relate back to our recent crazy hot weather in Singapore, the heatwaves in France and UK, it’s quite evident that the planet is not the same anymore and it’s caving in fast with all the ice melting. The planet is giving us some severe warning signs, and giving us the last chance to act before irreversible change happens (when we hit the tipping point). This is mentioned in the IPCC report  https://www.ipcc.ch/2018/10/08/summary-for-policymakers-of-ipcc-special-report-on-global-warming-of-1-5c-approved-by-governments/ . 

I reflected on all my recent activities to try to do my part as an individual, I’m trying my best but it’s a bit slow - I fear that the planet cannot wait that long for everyone to realise and change our habits. After all, being more environmentally aware and responsible is not easy - it’s fraught with inconveniences as it means changing how we are used to operating. And on top of that, as an early starters, you will get many questions and doubts thrown your way. I know it cox I just went through all these :

- why waste water to clean the bottles you want to recycle ?
- why recycle ? You are wasting your time  
- it’s paper, can throw into the paper recycling bin (it’s a paper cup with ice and liquid instead) 
- oh some people just want to show on Instagram that they don’t use plastic straws , but metal straws costs more resources to produce and leaves a greater carbon footprint 
- recycling bags are worse than plastics, it will take xxxx number of times of usage to make it equivalent to the energy needed to produce the plastic
- so why go crazy over straws, how about fast fashion, it’s even more damaging 
- some spoof video by local celebrity on how many people still need their straws
- many people who just use a lot of tissue to wipe wet sinks, tables, wet hands and random stuff without a second thought 
- people who just print a lot of paper in the office 
- don’t be so pretentious/hypocritical  .. you also don’t do these and that ... it’s irritating ..

Well, my stance remains. From what I see, there’s no perfect solution yet. For every effort or new idea, there’s still some cons or imperfections to be reckoned with. And while we cannot change the world overnight, we must start somewhere .. not having a perfect solution shouldn’t stop us from taking a step towards the right direction.

From my experiences so far, many people still do not realise the severity of the situation or even why we should care. Even those who care may not exactly know how we can all play a role to help or some may also feel like our individual part is too small to make a difference. 

Actually sometimes I feel deflated too. But when I saw that even a young girl Greta (only 16 years old) can be so strong against all odds, I think we owe it to our planet to fight for its survival too - never give up! 

Last night, I was searching Netflix for a film on plastics and I chanced upon this title “change the world”. Just the inspiration and pick me up I need for the day. And interestingly, it so turned out that it’s a documentary on how Greenpeace started . How amazed I was that it was only the efforts of a few individuals who managed to change the world. And maybe there is hope after all. 

Hence, I think I will continue to do my best and spread the way as much as I can.  I will start publishing a series of useful tips to save the Earth and also our wallet all at the same time. Stay tuned and spread the word. We don’t havemuch  time left..










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