Prime
Conserving the environment is everyone’s responsibility
Conservation experts suggest that several parts in the world are recording floods due to environmental degradation.
What you need to know:
- The list is long, but look around you, what is it that you can do different to protect mother nature?
Every June 5, we mark the World Environment Day, but what does it mean for you?
The climate change conversation is on! Are we resilient enough? How shall we adapt? How shall we mitigate?
We have read global pronouncements like net zero by 2050, COP28, Paris Agreement, SDGs and a lot more.
Governments are making commitments, corporates are sleeping in boardrooms discussing ESG, sustainability, climate change etc.
Have we sat back and reflected that actually most of today’s environmental problems are coming from individual decisions taken or not taken both at industry and domestic level (our homes.)
A colleague travelling recently narrated her experience aboard a plane; while some children from a certain country consistently stood up to throw their waste in the trash can, some children from a very familiar country were throwing their trash under their seats! Imagine!
Had they not seen the waste bin? Of course, they had seen it and even seen fellow children making use of it.
How did we reach here? This is entirely behavioural and calls for a mindset change.
If for example one million Ugandans chose to buy a water bottle that can be reused over 100 times instead of one million plastic bottles every single day, the amount of emissions you would have saved the environment would be immense but also a balance of coins in your pocket that can probably get you a rolex to munch with your family.
The conversation on environmental sustainability has to start with you. Let it start in your home.
A child who is taught that waste is collected in the waste bin and disposed of properly, shall not throw plastics through the window while in the taxi/bus.
A child who is taught that walking is good for your health and keeps you fit, shall not burn fuel for 1km distance.
A child who is taught that a refillable water bottle costs you less but also saves the environment from plastics shall grow up with such a lifestyle.
A child who is taught that lights should be switched off when not in use will save you a lot of expenses.
The list is long, but look around you, what is it that you can do different to protect mother nature?
If we adopt this as a lifestyle, probably the conversations in the boardrooms on climate change will be shorter and regulations on green taxonomy shall be received on softer ground.
Murungi Matred, [email protected]
