Personal commitment to the earth

EARTH Day was again celebrated on April 22 this year, the 40^th since the start of the first observance in 1970, which was conceptualized as a form of protest-campaign to increase awareness against environmental degradation, particularly air and water pollution.

Forty years hence, the annual celebration has taken on a more party atmosphere where people in different parts of the world stage marathons, cycling events, planting activities, and coastal cleaning programs, among others. But the issues involving the destruction of Mother Earth has expanded and grown more serious.

The abuse that we have been committing against nature and the resources it provides us has led to an alarming ecological imbalance and extreme climate changes. We have made Mother Nature very ill.

With the fun activities tied with Earth Day, people may easily forget that the observance should actually be a stark reminder to change our lifestyle at home, office, schools, and within the community as a whole if we really want to help save our planet.

This year and in the coming years, each Earth Day we observe should remind us what we have failed to do and how much more we need to do for our future generations.

Each human being needs to make a personal commitment to do even just a small bit — recycling, proper waste disposal, using less plastic, minimizing capricious demand for water, fuel and energy, and planting a tree or two, among other things — because every little bit from every individual can make a difference.

Climate change has become a buzzword that every man on the street has, one way or another, surely heard about it. But the reality of its repercussions to our environment remains a pretty much remote concept for the majority.

We have been celebrating Earth Day for four decades now. But now, more than ever, we need to make it more meaningful by embarking on a lifestyle change that shows how each one of us cares for our planet. Let’s start today, not next year’s Earth Day.

Time is running out on us.

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