Going Green? Why?

Everyone is talking about it and everybody wants to hitch a ride on the wagon that is ‘ Going green’, but what does this really mean and why should we try and step up to the plate. Ever since the industrial revolution, mankind has been in the face of development and with that rapid stage of development we have learnt to compromise on our environment. Anybody who has learnt a minute amount of history or geography would be familiar with the post-industrial revolution smogs and soot coated surroundings of the cities.

It took many, many years for man- kind to come to the realisation that we were doing something seriously wrong, and it was affecting the earth and thus our daily lives. Scientists worked tirelessly to point out the facts and here we are today.

Thanks to a few bold initiatives, such as the documentary titled the inconvenient truth by Al Gore, all the facts and figures were put in place and things begin to make sense. Any typical pessimist would say “so why should I go green? I don’t pollute”. Well, as long as you breathe, as long as you eat, as long as you yearn for a sip of water, you are dependent on earth.

The human search for all of the above does indeed have an impact on our environment. Now throw in fossil fuels, motor vehicles, factories pumping out countless pollutants and smoke into our atmosphere and water supplies. The impact just gets bigger and bigger. Now the smoke, the dirty water has become everyone’s problem. Causing diseases, water shortages, lack of drinking water, the list can go on .

Even though, we might like the idea of keeping our ecological problems as separate entities, in the end it boils down to one fact, we have one world and we all share it. So we are all bound to work together and address these issues,

It took many, many years for mankind to come to the realisation that we were doing something seriously wrong, and it was affecting the earth and thus our daily lives. Scientists worked tirelessly to point out the facts and here we are today.

here and now. This is going to be the ultimate test of just how much team work can achieve.

Working together to protect nature, minimising environmental impacts and ensuring that the world left behind for the next generation would still be bountiful in natural awe and wonder, is a collective responsibility. In the coming weeks this column will give you tips on what you can do as youth, as individuals. Ultimately you have to remember, this world will be yours one day. So today you will determine the future of the green, the future of all the animals, and the future of all the people. Be an agent of change and take a step forward to be a soldier who will protect nature and the environment and in no time, you will see your group of followers. Joanne Kotelawala. joICC2010@gmail.com