Saving our Earth

If there is something notable about what environmentalists have done through the years, it is giving Mother Earth a distinct personality as a living, breathing and fragile entity. Tomorrow, April 22, is Earth Day. How old is the world, we might ask ourselves and what was it like in the beginning of time, we wonder.

The earth was created from a dark and barren expanse full of water and without form, according to the Bible. God first created light, then day and night, the firmament or the heavens, then dry land or earth from the expanse and the seas, the grass and the trees, the sun, moon, stars and season, the fish and the birds, animals and creeping things, and man. Overall, it was a good creation and the first Earth was a paradise – there was yet no rain, but a mist from the earth went up and watered the whole face of the ground; bountiful trees supplied food and majestic rivers traversed and watered all the land, from which man could drink. In other words, the land took care of itself, and there was much water either flowing or watering it, and man was well provided for. Man’s distinct instruction from His Creator was to subdue the earth mostly for his food and sustenance alone.

Scientific and historical evidence tell us that thousands of years after the world that we know came to be, we find more than half its face has lost its beauty and pristine environment. We find it degraded with polluted land, sea and air, drying rivers and contaminated water, the seasons confused and erratic in many regions, increasingly overcrowded with people and edifices, many creatures of sea, sky and land either extinct or diminishing, mountains denuded with less or disappearing forest cover, spans of roads and highways with millions of vehicles spewing harmful gases plying them relentlessly. Ecosystems have run haywire with heavier rains, cataclysmic storms, burning heat and more severe droughts, while centuries-old glaciers melt at an increasing pace, rivers dried up and soil of lands cracked or parched. Even man, who was first created in God’s likeness and image, has gone corrupt and increasingly greedy in his heart. No one else but he, who was given dominion by his Creator over all the creatures and resources of the world, is to blame. Who else but Man! Yes, he subdued the earth and everything in it and, even more; in his increasing knowledge and imagination, he abused and exploited it for further gain, more than what was needed. He had more than what his heart could wish for, but in the process, he also became sicker and prone to diseases.

With the alarm sounding louder on the present state of Earth’s degradation, the utmost solutions have been identified – reduce the output levels of harmful carbon dioxide in the air, which reached a staggering 32 billion tons in 2006 worldwide, causing climate change and greatly disturbing nature and ecology. Measures so far adopted were – switching from coal to natural gas, using renewable and nuclear energy with caution, promoting fuel-efficient and hybrid vehicles, monitoring the use of land and the world’s resources while preserving the world’s ecosystems and more governments working towards a reduced, if not zero, carbon future. Many countries, including ours, have started implementing such measures, continuously exploring how wind, solar, nuclear and hydroelectric sources can help us remove harmful gases in our atmosphere. We also need to conserve and restore the world’s forests, of which one-third of total forest cover has been lost. Aside from producing the oxygen we need, trees have the tremendous ability to sequester carbon dioxide from the air. Environmentalists claim that a tree can absorb up to a ton of carbon dioxide over its lifetime.

Earth is old and groaning. On this Earth Day, and every day thereafter, we all need to contribute a “green solution” in our own small ways. On the other hand, companies may want to be more seriously involved by integrating an environment preservation program in its vision and mission. Better yet, they, especially manufacturing companies, can start allocating a seat in the board for green experts to ensure that their activities do not contribute to carbon emissions and pollution in the atmosphere. Many companies have already adopted an advocacy campaign as part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs to take care of the environment and we hope that more and more will follow suit. Government can give tax incentives for companies and individuals actively promoting environmentalism and economical behavior.

A change of attitude is important if we must respond to the urgent call to save the earth we live in. We all need to start living a simple life, share when possible, consume less and be more caring to the environment around us. We all need to think “green” and be conscious of all our actions and how it will affect the environment. But no matter how concerned we are, no improvement will happen if we do not act now. Everyone’s efforts will contribute to a great, drastic step that is imperative to cure the critical situation that Mother Earth is now in. Earth was given to man, now we must give back to Earth its natural existence. We owe a clean and living Earth to the generations after us.