Do you feel like you don’t know enough about our planet? I’m not talking about deep sea, underwater facts that only oceanic nerds or Nat Geo Wild watchers know about. I’m talking about the simple most basic things like carbon dating, how much atmospheric pressure we have left, and how many years it’ll take a bag of chips to degenerate.These things, I believe, should be taught in school. As well as how our planet is currently suffering and what we can do about it in our own little capacity.
Earth day/Earth month just went by, it was actually on April 22. But I wanted to remind y’all that the idea of celebrating Earth Day is not just about aesthetic. It’s about acknowledging that while Elon Musk figures out a way to put us on Mars, this planet is the only home we have. And for good reason too. God surely must have known what he was doing because it’s literally the only inhabitable planet.
Imagine if someone told you to take care of your house because if you lose it, you become homeless. And instead of taking care of it, you start burning it down. When it’s the only place you have. Yea that’s what it feels like. And little things and practices can help make Earth safer and better.
Cut down on plastic use.
Your plastic bottle of water will take about 450 years to fully decompose. Think about that. And we consume a ton of that in a week, a month, a year. Your plastic toothbrush will take about 500 years to fully decompose.
Switch to degradable materials like wooden toothbrushes. And dispensable water rather than plastic bottle water. I bet if we do that, no matter how little it may seem, we are actually helping the world. Switching to materials such as glass or paper also help reduce harmful materials.
We should think of how much we can reuse an item before purchasing.
Be careful and intentional about purchases.
My motto is that everything should be reusable or recyclable. You can carry around a reusable grocery bag to avoid taking nylons. You can use glassware instead of plastics to store food at home. Drink water out of a dispenser. You can also dispense soaps into glass bottles and not plastic.
Recycle.
Recycling isn’t just a first-world thing. Even in Nigeria, there are collection centers that help you recycle and even reward you for doing it. They pay a small sum of money to people that bring recyclable materials to them.
Recycling can be done at home and you can also teach kids how to recycle.
Plant a tree.
This might seem daunting, but it can actually be fun and rewarding. If we all planted at least one tree, we can try to make up for the many that are lost to urbanization, forest fires and man-made deforestation. Trees provide food and oxygen, they purify the air, and they help fight climate change.
Teach others.
Educating yourself and the people around you on what we can do individually and collectively to prolong the life of our planet is key. I personally feel like if we educate kids in school about these matters in an in-depth manner, they grow up incorporating what’s learned.
Hopefully, we are able to live sustainably, with our planet in mind, every single day.