BY BRIAN KING
You’ve heard it’s Earth Day, but what can little old you do about it? You’re just one person on a planet of 7.9 billion people. It’s not like you are causing any pollution, right? OK, maybe a little.
Sure, you drive to the store when maybe you could walk or bike. And, yeah, you usually forget to take your reusable bags with you when you go to buy groceries, but what’s a bag or two here or there? But you recycle your plastics, well most times, unless it requires extra work to wash them.
We know none of us are perfect. And most of us with kids or grandkids are starting to worry about the condition of the planet we are leaving to them. Certainly, the kids are worried about it. Can’t blame them – the outlook is concerning and not getting better anytime soon at our current rate of pollution. But what to do, what to do?
Well, it took a long time to get us where we are today. And it will take a lot of effort going forward to ensure the planet remains inhabitable. Someday we will all be driving electric vehicles and have solar panels on our houses. But we can also make a difference today. Right now. So, this Earth Day, make a difference. Challenge your neighbour to a clean-up project. Walk or bike instead of riding to work or school. Start a compost. Plant some flowers. And then make a promise to try to do more for our planet going forward. How about this: we can all focus on reducing our use of plastics. It’s ridiculous how much plastic is being used these days for packaging consumer products.
One organization that is making a difference is Ocean Legacy Foundation. It was founded in 2013 by Chloe Dubois and James Middleton with the goal to end ocean plastic waste. We have all heard about the enormous plastic problem in our oceans. Well, OLF is trying to change that. They collect waste plastics right out of the ocean and shoreline and process it into plastic pellets which are used to manufacture new value-added durable products.
OLF does a lot of other neat stuff – visit their website http://oceanlegacy.ca to learn more. As Dubois says, “it’s only by not stopping that we can come together and create the solutions that are the foundation of our survival. This is your chance to rise up and to change the world. The planet depends on us not stopping.”
So, this Earth Day do something nice for our planet. Then come down to Transfer Beach on Saturday, April 23, between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. to celebrate and join Rotary for a hotdog and a pop – on us.
This event is sponsored by Ladysmith and District Credit Union, 49th Parallel Grocery, the Chronicle, and the Town of Ladysmith.
EDITORIAL: Let’s improve planet’s prognosis this Earth Day
editor@nanaimobulletin.com
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