Future Generation Will Thank You!
The air feels fresh, isn’t it? said, my 4-year-old son, while on a walk around the block; weeks into COVID-19 caused shelter in place living. And I agreed with him. Working from home is a welcome break for some from their daily commuting nightmares, and for others, it has upended their lives with added family responsibilities. But I truly feel for those who are unable to earn a living during these tough times.
On the other hand, we should consider lucky to enjoy the family time we took for granted, to eat our meals on our dinner tables and give importance to our habits to lead a healthier life. Since we are not expanding our memory banks with our tailored travel itineraries, we are finding innovative ways to keep ourselves occupied and productive. We are baking, cooking, planting, building, and fixing things we never knew how.
We reduced our travel for nonessential trips and are perfectly content with not being on the constant move. The very planet Earth where we roamed like parasites without any thoughts on its absolution for using its resources, is thriving on the account of our self-centered and morbid isolation.
Carbon emission, one of the leading causes of global warming [ melting of those beautiful ice caps we never get to visit] is due to our over-reliance on fossil-based energy sources. Major contributors are developed or developing countries. [ Those who believe, they have it better than others ]
Why do I care about this? Well, for starters, we don't have another planet to move when we would eventually make Earth too hot to live. That is, when we burn through everything we have, raising the Earth's temperature in a magnitude that would be irreversible. No more fancy ozone layer to protect our complexion. Even with SPF 100, you will get me a tan which will turn me into a completely different race. The point is, until we find another planetary body in the Goldilock zone within our solar system, we better start taking care of the only habitable planet we know.
Things are turning for better amid Covid-19 lockdowns, at least on the global warming front. A pause in emissions at a global scale has never been achieved before. No cars on the street, factories shut down, airplanes grounded, ships docked, trains parked and even people stopped using their fossil-powered tools. This all resulted in the biggest-ever attempt in stopping to disregard the need to take care of our planet. Even a hole in the ozone layer over the arctic had the chance to close itself. [1]. This all came at the expense of thousands of lives, shattered economies, and unpredictable jobless future.
Is it just the beginning? I certainly hope not. But something got to give. How can we be prepared for the next one?. Unless we are ready to make sacrifices by adapting to the new reality, we wont to be able to survive another century. Let's not focus on building wealth for generations. Rather, build sustainable practices that will transcend economic boundaries. COVID-19 taught us we can survive, adapt, and persevere during the toughest of times. We can come together to take action in hopes of a better future.
So why not apply the same principle to the earthly resources we rely upon so much? Why not stop destroying our planet by burning everything in it? Why not stop hoarding things? Why not create a better sustainable living practice?. Our children and bazillions successors after them will thank us for our habits.