Earth Day every day to protect our planet

Earth Day every day to protect our planet

The carbon footprint of our planet is increasing by the hour and the consequent global warming is causing irreparable damage to the environment. Our energy hungry society guzzles tons of fossil fuels every second, belching out carbon intensive smoke into the surroundings, inexorably choking the very life out of our ecosystems. This drive towards self-destruction is quite ironical given the fact that Nature offers us such varied sources of natural energy that are clean, renewable, abundant and, as of yet, untapped.

Today the world is celebrating Earth Day and the event will seek to draw attention to the fact that we need to take urgent action to save our planet and move to a sustainable future. The theme for this year’s Earth Day is ‘Trees for the Earth’ and it seeks to mobilise a global movement to plant 7.8 billion trees by 2020. Deforestation is stripping our planet’s natural resources at an alarming rate and contributing to the escalating rate of global warming.

Civil society, therefore, has a great responsibility of taking cohesive, time bound actions to realise these goals and planting trees for a green future is, without doubt, an effective way of reducing global warming.

Earth Day should not be a one day event. Our intent must be to practice it daily so that future generations can enjoy the same pristine resources that we were blessed with.

From Ms Kehkashan Basu

Dubai

Stop natural disasters

Last year around 1,200 people died on streets of Karachi, Pakistan due to the heat wave, according to Gulf News. Those people mostly belonged to the poorest of the poor in different communities living in the Sindh province. Pakistan is currently facing disaster after disaster due to climate change. In 2005, an earthquake shook the nation and more than 73,000 people died, 128,000 were wounded and 3.5 million were left homeless in different parts of Pakistan.

In 2010 and 2011, fatal floods destroyed millions of houses/land and thousands again became homeless. Now the frequency of these type of disasters have damaged societies and many families are trapped in poverty. The effects of climate change are affecting the poorest segment of society. Earthquakes are now a routine and in April 2016, there was another earthquake that damaged many houses in northern Pakistan.

Earth Day reminds us that Mother Earth is demanding action and crying for our protection. There is a need to better preserve our precious water, invest in tree plantations and encourage recycling. Everyone must take care of our land, otherwise we will not be safe from natural disasters.

I think that at this critical stage, the United Nations should declare 10 goals to save the Earth and impose it on member nations.

From Mr Aijaz Ali Khuwaja

Karachi, Pakistan

A day I’ll never forget

I remember celebrating Earth Day for the first time. I was in grade one and my class was going out with their parents to pick up garbage in the nearby park. I remember my mother getting me ready as we used an old plastic ice cream container from home and tied some string to it so I could sling it across the shoulder to throw the garbage in for the big day.

Such funny things you remember as a child. Let that be proof that these actions do stick with you - this was 25 years ago. At that young age, I understood recycling and reusing with the reuse of the ice cream container, cleaning the environment with the garbage pickup and how working together can achieve a massive success.

I don’t think I’ll ever forget that day.

From Ms Lili Maria

Dubai

Celebrate today in some way

In some places people don’t even pay attention to the fact that there is an Earth Day. They don’t contribute to the betterment of the environment or preserve its natural resources for even one special day. In many places it goes unnoticed, but in Dubai for many years, as long as I have been here, there are a growing number of activities that make this day special. Right from planting trees and cleaning campaigns, this day brings a full load of many more related activities initiated by many volunteering organisations. Due to my busy schedule and time limitations, all I quietly do is plant at least one tree and try my best not to use any electrical equipment, like my washing machine, dishwasher or air conditioner since they all consume a lot of energy. I also ensure not to print any paper if not needed. I am trying to enhance similar habits in my three daughters. If the younger generation learns to love the Earth, we will have cleaner and healthier Earth tomorrow.

From Ms Anjali B.

Dubai

Awareness grows

Earth day means appreciating Nature’s gift to us and how to protect plants, animals and all that encompasses our environment. Earth Day is celebrated by activists throughout the world with singing the national anthem, too. The main gist on Earth day is to protect Nature through garbage collection, recycling and petitions by all groups protecting the planet from depleting resources. Every year Earth Day is growing and many people are aware of this.

From Mr K. Ragavan

Bengaluru, India

Consume with care

The wellbeing of humanity, the environment and the functioning of the economy ultimately depends on the responsible management of the planet’s natural resources. Evidence is building that people are consuming far more natural resources than what the planet can sustainably provide.

Many of the Earth’s ecosystems are nearing critical tipping points of depletion or irreversible change pushed by high population growth and economic development. We should do our best to reduce cutting trees, conserve natural resources by diligent consumption of water, energy and fuels.

The roots of trees hold soil firmly and prevent soil erosion. This leads to the increase in the ground water levels and the continuity of the water cycle, which results in rain. Ultimately, trees prevent the drought and provide greenery to the environment.

It is vital to spread awareness on afforestation, appreciate and understand that we depend on Nature and ecosystems to provide us a secure and healthy living.

I am very happy on my attempt to promote a greener Earth, and I would like to motivate all my friends and fellow mates to practice recycling and conservation of greenery in daily life.

Sustainable consumption of resources is the key to protect our planet. Act now and consume with care.

From Ms Nitya Sankaran

UAE

Educating children

Earth Day is an annual reminder of our responsibility to be good stewards of the Earth. One can contribute to a healthier Earth in multiple ways: plant a tree, pick up trash, purchase biodegradable products and commit to reduce, reuse and recycle. Planting trees is one of the easiest and most sustainable ways to positively affect the environment. We need trees now more than ever!

This year we planted 40 saplings with 40 children at a children’s nursery in Sharjah. It was such a great activity wherein I gave the children a simple environment talk and we planted trees.

The years of early childhood are the time to prepare the soil to grow a healthy tree. So ahead of Earth Day, I decided to plant trees with young children to teach them the important lesson. I concluded my session with them by making a group promise that we will all do our best to never waste food; that we will take care of plants and trees; that we will throw our waste in the bin and keep our communities clean.

I am very happy that I could teach them simple and useful eco-values which, I am sure, they will remember as they have done the work themselves in a fun-filled way.

My idea behind this activity was to generate children’s interest in the environment and create the sense of responsibility. These cute children were primary planters and by planting saplings themselves it gave them a sense of ownership and increased their knowledge of trees.

From Ms Arushi Madan

Sharjah

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