'Only One Earth'

Let’s protect our one and only!

Sunday, 5 June, Sweden hosts the 49^th World Environment Day themed ‘Only One Earth’.

No matter where you are, who you are, or what you do, we all share the common fact that we are children of one planet, and that is our Earth. This is something most of us tend to forget. But why is our parent planet so important? Certainly, since we’ve got no other planet to live on, it undeniably becomes our responsibility to protect our Earth.

Our world is the Earth and our home is the Earth. Its beauty is illustrated in both its appearance and its behaviour. Blooming with magnificent colours and saturated with abundant waters, our mother planet nurtures us, fulfilling requirements our basic needs to our luxurious wants. Everything you eat, to the roof over your head, comes from our environment – Earth. For every innovation, Earth has played the leading role.

As a tribute and reminder of the Earth’s significance to us, every 5 June we celebrate World Environment Day.

So, what is the environment? To get the right answer, look around you. Wherever you are – that is the environment. Our surroundings are the environment. The environment is Earth. And the Earth is our home. If we destroy our environment, we destroy our only home!

We’re in a race against time when it comes to global warming. If global warming is not maintained below 1.5°C this century the world will face adverse changes such as prolonged droughts and disastrous floods, leading to water shortages in some parts of the earth while submerging the rest. To keep things satisfactory, we need to halve yearly greenhouse gas emissions before 2030.

Urgent and effective action is essential to transform the devastation everyone is about to face shortly. Let’s begin this journey from our homes. Almost all our environmental damage comes from our consumption; what we consume, how much we consume, and how frequently we consume has a significant impact on the Earth. The utility of fuel, clothing, vehicles, toys, water, food, electronics and many other goods demonstrates that we are all consumers. The solution is not to stop consuming, but to become more aware of what we consume and limit the effects.

How to do this? It’s as easy as three steps:

Compost your waste. Using surplus yard and food for compost kills two birds with one stone. It not only fertilises soil, allowing more plants to grow, but is also reduces piling of landfills.
Let go of the disposables. Choose reusables over single-use.
Recycle. Just throwing your waste into the right litter bin can help the environment.

Darker the shadow, brighter the light – with every challenge, we have the opportunity to fight back, and we’ve seen people of all ages standing up and encouraging us to fulfil our responsibility to the environment. To protect what protects us – our Earth. Let’s first change ourselves to change the world. Make this 49^th World Environment Day a stepping stone on your journey to protect our one and only Earth.

Let’s think about our planet.

Let’s care for our home.

And fulfil our duty.