Dear You,
How are you? How is your year so far? I hope it is well and wish it ends with you fulfilling your ambitions.
Before your ambitions come into place, what have you done for the environment?
It’s great you’re here. Read on and see how we’re surviving.
And, nature might have taken a toll on us, God forbid(that’s if you believe in a deity) by the time you’re reading this. Why? Because we’ve neglected our environment. We’ve grown reckless in the way we manage our environment.
Tell you what? We’re all at risk. Panic not, for we’re responsible.
Look around…
Photography credits: Teresa Lubano, Location: Ololo Safari Lodge, Nairobi
Seen how mother nature has turned against us? I could tell you how we are suffering from the long tentacles of nature. But then you can see it for yourself. Case in point, we’re having a drenched January from the usual dry one. We cannot now plant foods with the unknown rains.
Water is life. But in excess, it is sure destruction. You have seen how floods have damaged property and made others homeless. The Sun’s rays are useful energy, but with UV there’s hurting of skins and from the carbon emissions, we have destroyed the ozone. Everything around us is turning against us.
Places that are discouraged for settlement, we’ve made them our homes. We’ve made it even worse by diverting river courses’. So when it rains, there is accelerated erosion, flooding, the introduction of oil and other pollutants to the stream, cutting off of subsurface water flow to the stream and threatening of wildlife.
Yet at this point, we cry foul of the current situation – which unfortunately we’ve had a big role in. We cut trees. And we forget to plant more. We deposit harmful materials into streams. Then we come back to complain of complex ailments and syndromes. All from consuming resources we have polluted.
Worse still, we proceed to use the polluted water to water our food. The system we’ve created has made this sad situation normal. We’re almost used to it now. Complains. And protests. With no change. Why? Because we’re the system and very comfortable when problems are not ours. However, when we’ve been affected we dare raise a finger.
It’s inherent in us Kenyans now. The corrupt system exploiting the environment with little regard for future generations. And how the resources will be replenished. The rich buy themselves out of damaging the environment.
What they don’t know is what they’re creating comes back one way or another. It could be the vegetables they eat. To the air they breathe. Still, they are harming themselves.
Unfortunately for us, this endangering the earth and harming mother nature happens across the globe. From China, in industrial scales, there are huge emissions of carbon gases. Heard of people using gas masks in China? That’s the level of air pollution.
Now locally for the longest time, we’ve done huge deforestation up until our water towers are headed to their death beds. Am sure you’ve heard of the ‘big’ people owning large tracts of forest land for personal use in the Mau Complex. But for the small people who have little parcels of land, they have been relocated.
As well you may also have observed the unpredictability of the climate. You can’t be sure when the rains hit the ground. And when they hit, they create wreckage displacing people from their homes.
I could easily rant all time long. And I will not miss anything to say how we’ve degraded our home. We continually pretend and imagine wherever we live is safe. Mark you, we’re not safe. We’re endangered after endangering our home.
Stopping the Rot With Little Steps
Photography credits: Teresa Lubano, Location: Ololo Safari Lodge, Nairobi
Still, all is not lost. There is hope.
Am looking forward to a day where all will be well and the glaciers will stop melting to raise seawater levels. Am looking forward to a day when there are no heat waves to kill people. Am looking forward to the day when and where we’ll eat fresh, healthy and nutritious food.
If that’s not enough have more green cover on the earth’s surface. And have Sahara forest compete with the Amazon. As well as see a reduction in pollution-induced ailments.
We can achieve all those and more in the right direction with one simple step: Looking out for your environment – a mantra guided by little steps.
Looking out for your environment involves several things. Disposing of garbage and waste correctly, planting trees recklessly(let’s get to see the harm of having excess trees on earth if that is even possible). Even owning something as little as a potted plant will also be a move in the right direction.
How about you adopt using biodegradable carrier bags. However small it is, you will have helped reduce the use of plastics.
On a large scale, you’ve the opportunity to look for the environment by following and respecting the environmental policies, regulations, and rules. It is for your own good.
Our environment won’t be safe by wishful thinking. It will get better from doing the small things we despise that usually create habits. To the great things, you wish you’re the one to do them. Great things that span all continents. And are proof of great habits starting small. Collectively then we will have a planet that is safe to us now. And home for others in the future.