As a kid, I’d been unusually obsessed with the environment. In the 3rd grade, I remember being a member of the Earth Saver’s Club. I was geekily encouraging everyone to plant trees that time. Being the kid that I was, I thought that was the only way we could help save the Earth.
In all those years of being an “advocate” of the environment, I am ashamed to say that I still haven’t planted a single tree. I kept on making excuses in my head, I kept on saying I didn’t have the means nor the resources to do this.
Now that awareness for climate change is intensifying, I understand better now how this whole Earth-saving thing works. I now know that saving our planet is not merely executed through tree planting.
I know that every little effort makes a big difference. Through various articles and programs about climate change, I’ve learned to develop my very own Earth-Saving system – one that can actually be incorporated into my lifestyle.
Believe it or not, I can participate in this advocacy when I shop.
When I shop, I tend to accumulate a vast amount of plastic bags. I’ve learned to be allergic to this. If it’s something that can fit into my bag, I usually forego the plastic bag. When shopping, I say to the cashier like a mantra: “Please don’t put it in a plastic bag anymore.” Those canvas enviro-bags also come in handy, especially when shopping in tiangges.
Next to shopping, I am often lurking around in the world wide web. I’ve learned to set my homepage to Blackle.com. It’s a predominantly black search site, so it takes less energy for it to load. Blackle searches are powered by Google, so you don’t have to worry about getting crappy search results. It’s a small effort, but helps to lessen energy at every start-up.
I’ve been using less paper at work too. I have learned to work using the paperless system. It also helps that I have not connected myself automatically to the office printer. It discourages my trigger-happy finger from clicking “print” at every given opportunity.
These are really small steps, and at a glance, may seem so miniscule as compared to the growing urgency of climate change. But it’s time to stop making excuses. A miniscule act, done by a million people, will still amount to a million acts. The clock is ticking, if we don’t start now, then when?