Friends, I want you to stop for 5 seconds and look around you.
Most likely, you will observe walls, windows, streets, and other man-made developments that comprise your immediate environment.
This is new. This is novel.
As you can guess, the Earth, however, is not new. Cycles of life. Seasons. Natural heating and cooling. These processes churn together in a rhythmic harmony that has kept our world habitable for millennia.
This global ebb and flow is being majorly threatened if not completely disrupted today.
The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and Zoological Society of London (ZSL) 2020 “Living Planet Report” found a 68% decline in the 21,000 monitored populations of mammals, birds, fish, reptiles and amphibians around the globe between 1970 and 20161. Sixty. Eight. Percent. Let that sink in.
And this is just one of a myriad of growing statistics today.
It’s saddening and disheartening. I tear up just writing about it. I am sure you, like me, want your children (or at least the children born today) to experience the same fresh air and witness the same natural world you probably were able to experience to as a child. I doubt, however, this will happen when looking at our current trends.
BUT there is hope. For example, the book “How to Avoid a Climate Crisis” by Bill Gates distills the science and concludes we can still curb this worsening problem, though it will take sacrifice on ALL fronts, both personally and as a global population2. I have hope we can find a way to think about changing our lifestyles now to avoid a problem that will soon be too difficult to fight.
So what can you do?
Below are three ways you can do your part today:
- Look at your single-use plastics consumption. Is there a way you can limit the amount of plastics you use? Maybe try going out to eat less, or bring a reusable cup to Starbucks in the mornings.
- Limit the amount of new things you buy! You can always purchase used clothes, or sew up a tear. Make things LAST!
- Try and limit your vehicle usage! Don’t have a bike? Get one! Close enough to walk? Do it!
I leave you with one of my new favorite quotes:
A special thanks to my dad, Paul Merrill, for the header images! He took these while on the beach in Kenya circa 2006.
To add a little pizzaz to your day, please check out his blog here.
Azure Adventure 