Three Tips on How to Protect Mother Nature
The current corona pandemic has not only caused all of us throughout this world inconvenience, troubled lives and misery, but it has also created pollution problems.
Have a look at the cover photo of this article. Many of us will realise that, before the coronavirus came about, we had never, or at least very seldom, seen unwanted facial masks on the ground. Now, we see them everywhere, be it on hiking trails or on the pavement.
It has even been reported on news channels that there has been a rise in the amount of debris dumped into the sea. Examples of such debris include plastic surgical gloves and facial masks. Such a phenomenon brings about a nuisance to the natural habitat of ocean animals.
This is definitely not a good sign. It is also known that our planet’s ozone layer is already damaged and we have been alerted to protect the Earth because of climate change.
If we do not start now to protect our planet, it will soon be too late and there is no turning back from the damage that we are causing to Mother Nature.
What can one do to sustain a healthy Mother Nature? Below are three tricks on what you can do in your everyday life to play your part as a responsible global citizen.
Do Not Litter
Firstly, make sure you are not a “litter monster” (i.e. do not throw garbage on the ground or into the sea, but in rubbish bins).
You may have seen muesli bar packaging or juice boxes tossed onto the ground on hiking trails, or, since the occurrence of the corona pandemic, surgical gloves and facial masks dumped inappropriately into the ocean. These are exactly the acts of those who do not love our planet. There is no verified proof that such deeds encourage a rise in the global climate or promote the enlargement of the hole in the ozone layer, but they surely contribute to the opposite effect of a beautiful nature.
Therefore, make sure you do not lose your mask absent-mindedly by letting it fall from your pocket or handbag. And whether you are having a bite on the go, or munching on a rice crispies on a walk in the woods, if you cannot locate a rubbish bin, do not dump your garbage on the ground – keep the packaging with you until you find the next available bin. Sometimes, you may have to keep it till you reach your office or your home. However, it is worth doing so – no one wants a “crying and sad” Mother Nature, right?
Save Water
Secondly, here is a trick that helps save water, an important resource that we all need every day.
Believe it or not: you can save water by putting a brick inside the toilet tank at home. It does not take a genius of an IQ of 120 to understand that when a brick, which takes up generally the volume of one liter of water, is placed inside the tank, the latter fills itself with less water after a flush.
If all offices, schools and every one of us were to practice this trick of mine, which was instructed to me by my grade 3 teacher in Montreal, we would be saving more water than we can imagine, perhaps millions or even billions of liters of water per day. Again, this needs everyone’s cooperation, not just in one country, but in the entire world.
Recycle
Thirdly, take part in your local recycling system. We produce so much garbage daily, and this is exactly why we need to recycle plastics, metals and paper so that they can be renewed.
You may have heard of the “3R Concept”: reuse, reduce, recycle. Reuse your water bottle, reduce the amount of garbage you generate, recycle glass, plastics, metals and paper.
It does not take much effort to participate in recycling; everyone can do it. Simply rinse the recyclable material from your cooking and put it in a paper carton, which you empty only once a week into the big green bin at your house, which gets then emptied by the city. It is as simple as that!
In the above-mentioned paragraphs, there are only three tips on what you can very easily do to protect the environment. Mother Nature belongs to all of us and it is the responsibility of each and every one of us to sustain it with love and a bit of perseverance.
By Yvonne Y. F. Kelle
