Jasmine Isa Qureshi

Sometimes, I stop whatever I’m doing and think about the state of the planet we’re living in…great swathes of lush, green rainforests disappearing, our beautiful blue oceans- absent in every other known planet but ours, contaminated by the destructive power of oil and clogged by masses of our unwanted rubbish. Entire precious species, some yet not even looked upon by the human eye, extinct, just like that. Yes, I know it may seem as if I’m having a giant rage against humanity- but let me get to the point first.

All of these problems are different, all of theses problems can be dealt with- its not a question of how, its only a question of when, and we don’t have to wait around for ‘big corporations’ to start doing a big cleanup of our planet earth for us. This is our planet, all of ours, and the sooner we understand that we must take responsibility TOGETHER, not only for the sake of the wildlife, but also for the sake of ourselves- the sooner we might get this planet to start feeling like a cleaner place to live.
What I mean is- we don’t have to do big scale cleanup jobs and massive campaigns to make a difference to the ecology of our planet, every little helps, and the problem with many of us is that we feel that simply doing the recycling, or letting part of you garden grow wild, or saving electricity, or even buying an electric car or just using a bicycle is such a small act that it wont make it a difference to all of the pollution that occurs around the earth. Well what I’m saying here is that you are wrong- where do you think all of the major problems that affect the planet at the moment started, they started with small acts of pollution that were not dealt with from the start and therefore blew right out of proporton.
Every piece of rubbish that does not go into your recycling bins is then either dumped into the ocean, where it can be dangerous and often fatal to the wildlife that exist there (plastic bags for example can be fatal to sea turtles, who often mistake them for jellyfish- a main part of the turtles diet- and therefore swallow them, and then suffocate as a result), and also pollute the ocean in the form of chemicals and oil- which can result in seabirds dying (their feathers are coated with the oil and therefore are not waterproof any longer, they also lose their ability to insulate properly- meaning they can die of sickness) and many more marine animals; such as cetaceans and fish, becoming ill and die as a result of chemicals, and can also become tangled in fishing nets and other pieces of plastic or rubbish- which means they either suffocate or starve to death. Or even dumped in landfills, where they can also be harmful to the animals and plants, as toxic chemicals leak from certain materials and toxic fumes are given off via burning of the materials; these then kill plant species whilst also poisoning animals in the area, entire areas can thern also be made off limits for farming or even habitation- which is bad news for us because it means less food and bad news for wildlife because it destroys their homes and also destroys diverse and fragile ecosystems.

So you see, if we all stop recycling because we think that it wouldn’t really help the planets major problems, or we simple cannot be bothered- imagine how many tonnes of waste would be going into oceans and landfills, killing wildlife and decimating environments. We need to recycle, it does have a major effect on the planet if we do not recycle and it also has a major effect if we do recycle.

And I’m just talking here about one of the many things we can do to help change the terrible direction that our earth is heading, I’ve mentioned a few more; buying an electric car or just using a bicycle (thus ensuring less fossil fuels are used to create fuel and therefore reducing the pollution occurring due to carbon emissions and oil pollution), letting part of your garden grow wild (which then allows bee and other insect populations to thrive, improving ecosystems and therefore allowing other species of animals to thrive), and there are many more.

Everything we do makes a difference- even if its small-because many small acts build up to create a big difference; so I am urging you as people who care about the planet they live on and who care about their future- take action, do your recycling, ride a bicycle more, start to wake up and change your habits so we can save this planet together. Change yourselves before you think about changing others.