Why we should celebrate Earth day all year round

Earth day is approaching fast and for some reason I am more aware of it this year. Why? Because it’s becoming pretty obvious that there is something seriously wrong with mother Earth. She is getting old and frail and the kind of treatment we are giving her is only making matters worse. I wonder if we could inject her with a new boost of energy if we all tried really hard. I am not talking about a quick fix or some of these over the counter multivitamins that we always see in the ads. But nobody has time to listen. Time is money and isn’t money all that counts? Everybody is too busy rushing around to notice that we are running out of time. We have to start acting NOW, the clock is ticking.

As a realistic person with some common sense I don’t believe in doomsday prophecies. I won’t tell you that we will all get struck by a meteor or hit by a giant Tsunami as we all know logically that these are natural phenomena caused by non-artificial events and therefore not produced by humans. Unlike for example pollution, water shortage or famine, just to mention a few. They are all interlinked, you don’t need to be a scientist to come to that conclusion. I don’t support the cavemen who preach that the end of the world is coming while stocking up on dehydrated chicken stew. What’s the point in hiding in a dark cave if the outside air is polluted anyway? What’s the joy of chewing dry chicken jerky when you are lacking water for rehydration? Better stock up your cave with Vitamin D tablets and a wind up tanning lamp, because sunlight will be nothing but a fading memory from the past. The thought alone makes me depressed.

The wealthy can purchase a luxury survival condo in the Kansas desert. A bunker that comes with big screen TVs, top of the line appliances and a fake view of the once beautiful world outside. Big help - how will you fill your high-tech fridge, on what will your dishwasher run? Your monster TV will be nothing but a giant black hole with nobody broadcasting and no electricity flowing into it unless of course you have a wind up generator. Your only consolidation will be the beautiful view, but remember it’s fake and will also fade sooner than later.

While we watched helplessly how oil was leaking into the Gulf of Mexico or radiation into the ocean in Japan, what did we do? We opened the fridge to take out another beer and thought “thank god I’m not living there”. Instead of brainstorming how the problem could be solved, the world was blamestorming, as usual. Isn’t that what we are good at these days? “The government should do something about it”, is our favourite saying. Yes, the government is responsible for all our actions these days, after all that’s what they get paid for. Tax Dollars at work! But the problem is that they can no longer take care of business, as they are too busy covering their asses. Being attacked from all sides is a 24-7 job, no one wants to lose face. So things get covered up right, left and center, and we are enraged, not realizing that we are all responsible for this. We are living in a world of reality TV shows and can no longer figure out what’s right or wrong. Did you ever notice that a scandal attracts far more attention than good news?

When do we wake up and start getting our priorities right? Dubai is currently selling real estate on manmade islands that are just waiting for the perfect Tsunami to happen. Qatar was awarded the 2022 soccer world cup. The climate there is so hot it constitutes a health risk to players and spectators alike. But since we can manipulate everything including nature these days, the organizers are planning to cool their open air stadiums with remote-controlled artificial clouds, costing US $ 500’000 a shot. I am not pointing fingers at Dubai or Quatar, I just randomly chose two senseless projects which obviously are powered by big money. Ongoing projects like these are dotted all around the globe.

I am not one to tell the world what our priorities should be, but something definitely looks wrong here. While we are all facing fuel shortages, pollution and climate change, resources get wasted on futuristic projects that benefit only a few. There are many small companies out there which have ground breaking “Green” technology but no supporters. One good example is “Watchit Technologies Inc.” who claims that they have a fuel reformer that could reduce the US dependency on foreign oil by 33% over the next decade. Isn’t it time that the world’s governments formed a pool and invited small companies to present their ideas. I am convinced that in no time we could solve various issues at relatively small cost. But in the world that we live in, bigger is better and money is all that counts. So while our large corporations are resting on their laurels nobody is taking note of the hidden potential in the background.

Earth hour came and went. Some of us remembered and switched off the lights for one hour, only to turn them back on in full force afterwards. How long is our memory span? How deep our conscience? While we become more global, we get more selfish and don’t think of the world as a whole? Sometimes I wonder who is more sick. Is it mother earth or is it us?

Earth day will come and go. Some of us will remember and not use their car for a day. A reason to actually go outside for once and enjoy nature while we still can. We all complain about the high price of gas, not realizing that this is a warning sign. If we carry on the way we do, we might soon have to live with gas shortages, blackouts, the lot. May be then we will invent Earth week, Earth month and finally Earth year. Do we really need all these events, only to remind us that we should stop and be more responsible?

I have already taken the first step by joining the “give it up for earth day” campaign. Cutting out toxic chemicals from my home is a no brainer, one that doesn’t even take the slightest effort. I’ve been doing it since I moved to a beautiful lake, after all I want to keep it that way.

Not buying anything new will be more of a challenge. I could have committed for a day, but I did it for a whole year. Of course I will have to bend the rules a bit every now and then, after all I’m only human and if we all refrained from shopping, we would soon kill the economy. I mainly signed up to remind myself not to accumulate more unnecessary junk and to choose my purchases more wisely and according to sustainability e.g. like the kayaks we recently bought. They are made from recycled material and don’t require any fuel. This year we will go on a 6 week bicycle trip through Eastern Canada, thereby reducing our carbon footprint once again. We only go shopping once a week, it’s not only environmentally friendly but also saves a lot of money and time. Recycling is no longer a bind but a pleasure. Producing only half a bag of garbage once every two weeks is the proof that we can reduce our landfills. I wasn’t born a “green” person, but it grew on me. It saddens me to see how our food is manipulated to the extent that it’s no longer healthy or recognizable. As long as we accept it as a fact of life without being critical, we will invite obesity and illness into our houses. May be then the government will finally step in, to protect the people from themselves. As usual we will say: “Who do they think they are to tell us what to do”. But then, maybe that’s what we need. If the government doesn’t ban light bulbs, then who will buy CFLs? If they don’t increase the price of gas, who will walk or ride a bike? I see outdoor lights burning 24 hours a day. Why, because people just don’t care.

If we all became more responsible we could reduce our energy consumption and live with less fear of the earth not being able to sustain itself. May be we could even stop the oil from flowing into the ocean or the radioactivity polluting our atmosphere.

Maybe - one day - Earth day!