It’s Earth Day! A day to celebrate the beautiful world that we inhabit, but also a (needed) reminder that it is the only home that we are given. When we speak of taking care of the Earth the biggest topic that typically comes up is Climate Change. While Climate Change is a huge threat (yes, it’s real, it occurs naturally, and humans have greatly contributed to it), it does not have to be our only reason to take care of our planet. As humans, we're not great at taking care of the Earth, but here are 10 reasons why we should:
1) It’s God’s creation
If you have no other reason to take care of our planet then the fact that it is God’s
creation should be enough. We should treat everything given to us by God in the
best way possible, including the Earth. Who are we to destroy something that He gave to us?
2) We only have one
This is it, we only have one planet. We have not found a way to inhabit Mars or even the moon, and even if we did we should not look to that as a resource. We have nowhere else to go if we ruin Earth.
3) Future generations
We’re here temporarily and we’re destroying what future generations would love to see. My children will probably never know what a polar bear is. Not only that but it's likely that they will not know about the Amazon Rainforest either. We are destroying our natural resources like trees in order to create spaces for buildings that may be abandoned in 20-25 years. Is it truly worth future generations never seeing the beauty that Earth has to offer? If we reuse and renew the resources that we currently have we can protect our land for future generations.
4) Animals
There are animals suffocating in the oceans daily because of our trash. There are turtles with trash in their nostrils, seals feasting on plastic bags instead of jellyfish, penguins (and other creatures) whose heads are trapped in those six-pack plastic rings. Something as simple as recycling or even just cutting the plastic rings can prevent a slow and painful death for the animals in the sea.
5) Beauty
The Earth is such a beautiful place and we are slowly destroying it. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to go to the beach sometime and not step around cigarette butts and plastic bottles? Or maybe just go on a walk without seeing trash in the woods. I know that I would love just to walk through a parking lot without seeing take out bags and drinks sitting in spots where they were obviously and intentionally placed. Imagine a world where you did not have to see all the trash.
6) Landfills
Let’s be real, landfills are disgusting! Why would we want to see heaping piles of garbage everywhere? And there is so much sitting in landfills that can be recycled. Or things that could have avoided ending up there if we were more cautious. Not to mention how many things sit there that we are aware are not decomposable so they’ll be sitting there for centuries, always having more indecomposable things piling higher and higher on it.
7) Air and Light Pollution
As an asthmatic that also loves the stars, air and light pollution are two things that bother me so much! On days where the air quality is not good it is dangerous for individuals with respiratory issues to go outside; and as a society we go outside a lot (even if just from buildings to our cars and back again, we need to go outside). There are countries where they have to wear face masks because their air pollution is so bad! Why are we not fighting to prevent that!? Along with air pollution comes the less serious light pollution. Light pollution disrupts the natural flow of life (mainly that of animals who have gone thousands of years without LED lights affecting their nightly scavenges), but if that’s not enough, light pollution also prevents us from seeing the stars. I live 10 miles outside of a metropolis and of the two years living here I can probably count on one hand how many nights I could see the stars. If there is anything I miss it’s being able to walk outside and see the moon and the stars.
8) Renewable energy sources
We know of renewable energy sources. If we can bring them into practice (gradually) they will eventually be cheaper for us to use than non-renewable sources. Not only that, they are RENEWABLE, they’re not going to run out on us. Plus, they’re safer for the environment (even the worst of them).
9) Non-renewable energy sources
We will run out of non-renewable energy sources, maybe not this year, maybe not in our life times, but we will run out of them. They are here for us to use now and that is wonderful but if we do not eventually make the switch we are going to be leaving future generations with an awful situation because they’re not going to be able to implement renewable energy quick enough to sustain the lives they will be used to.
10) We’re making it harder on ourselves
The simplest reason to take care of our Earth is that by not taking care of it we are making it harder on ourselves. When we use one use plastic (such as water bottles) we are purchasing more materials (and leaving more nonbiodegradable items in landfills). When we litter and do not recycle we are making our world disgusting. When we refuse to switch to renewable energy we are refusing to create jobs and allow ourselves the chance to lower the cost of renewable energy (a gradual phasing is the only way to accomplish this). When we litter and pollute we make it harder for us to breath. Pollution also makes it so we have to clean the water that we need to drink (we have to use SO many chemicals to cleanse the water). When we damage the Earth, we are only hurting ourselves.
Earth Day is a wonderful day to be reminded of all that we can do for our environment⸺I know that I do not do nearly as much as I should. We cannot change our ways overnight but by being aware of what needs to be done in order to save our planet, we can slowly make progress and make our world as beautiful as possible. It is the simple things that we can begin with such as picking up trash, recycling, and limiting our use of single use plastics that will eventually make a difference ⸺ we must start small!
Happy Earth Day!
~Sammy~
Comments