The calendar may say January 2020 but are things really going to change just because a new decade has rolled around?? When I talk of change, I don’t mean new years resolutions, but something bigger than that.
Flooding, bush fires, tsunamis, hurricanes are becoming daily occurrences for citizens of the world. The most current example of the Australian forest fires, it has been shown that we simply do not have the resources in place to cope with these natural disasters.
The Irish Government are claiming to be making changes. At the rate they are being implemented the destruction and devastation of our home will have continued without slowing down.
Are the climate issues we are facing being taken seriously by those in charge?
The longer we take to change our patterns means worsening conditions. Theenvironmental activist Greta Thunberg is urging immediate action to address the climate crisis around the world. She is pushing for the generations to unite to make the world great again and this can be heard in the documentary ‘Make the World Greta Again’. As times are changing, we can no longer afford the luxuries of single use plastics and un-recyclable/un-compostable waste, we must instead strive to reduce, reuse and recycle whatever we can. We must start thinking ethically.
By continuing down the path we are currently on, we will be left with a world that is uninhabitable. One with temperatures so high that much of Europe will become unfit to support human life and one were Ireland and England will become overcrowded due to its ability to maintain a survivable climate.
Here at TU Dublin, we must begin the change and stop our unethical lifestyles! We can begin the first steps towards our goals with some simple changes for example: reuse and fix equipment instead of throwing it away – most things can be re-purposed, use keep cups instead of cafeteria single use cups, buy a reusable water bottle, stop using plastic lunch bags, Use public transport or walk/cyle to college instead of driving. While these things sound small, when everyone does it together it can really start making big changes!
I’m not sure what the year of 2020 has in store for us but here at TU Dublin but we can push for big changes in how we treat the environment. Small changes on their own may not change anything but on a grander scale, if we all pull together, our efforts will start to show big differences.
