We can all be heroes – but we must act now
WHEN I was a lad the only people that could save the planet were Doctor Who and Rocket Robin Hood.
At COP26 in Glasgow, we are now relying on governments and oil companies to don their capes and use their super powers to stop the Earth warming to deadly levels.
And they turned up from all over the world, pumping out carbon from their private jets, to tell us not to worry.
What we really needed was action, but our leaders are more than happy to pass those actions onto us.
To be honest, they have a point, because we need to lower our carbon output, cut down on travel, be more sensible in what we eat and recycle everything we possibly can.
As a Wildlife Trust, we are keen to stress that while some people believe we are starting to see the effects of climate change now, wildlife has been feeling its effects for the past 100 years.
If we ever need to prove that humanity is having a devastating effect on Planet Earth, just investigate the numbers of species that are now extinct or those that are on a road from where there is no recovery. The biodiversity crisis is not just killing individual birds, mammals, insect and plants, it is actually wiping out our species.
In the North West we have lost two types of bumblebee and many species have become locally extinct.
For instance, you won’t see two turtle doves at Christmas in Manchester, or at any other time of year.
We cling onto good news, hearing that the nightjar has returned to the Manchester peatlands in the past three years and we are reintroducing rare butterflies onto those mosses, but overall the picture is not good.
While the government is requesting that we do more (if one in four or us took action it would help to reverse the climate crisis) the best way to make people take action is to force their hands.
There should be fines for people not recycling properly and heavier fines for people littering. These are not Draconian measures, these are basic, easy things that every one of us can remember.
Littering is about being polite and respecting our neighbours and our communities.
If waste is disposed of properly fewer animals will become ensnared in plastic packaging or swallow horrible rubbish in the sea. A couple of years ago, there was a picture of a swan which had made a nest out of plastic on the Ship Canal.
This wasn’t cute, it was heartbreaking to see. It could not find any natural nesting materials amongst the waste.
And do you have to drive to the shops and school? Walking is good for you and the environment, when possible.
Once we are doing our bit we can then add our voices to demand more action from our leaders. It’s time for us all to change the world, to make sure there is a world to change.
We can all be superheroes.