What On Earth Are You Doing?

My letter to Today was published on 5 Jun. It’s a summary of my ebook and I thought it would be good to share it with newspaper readers on World Environment Day.

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World Environment Day is marked globally today, with activities to remind
us of our impact on the environment and also what we can do to improve and
protect it. Everyone can do something. For a start, we could consider
these six steps:

One: Respect life and renew our bond with nature. Without respect for
nature and its biodiversity, there will be no desire to protect them.

Developing respect means recognising that all living things have a right
to live on this planet and we should not harm them.

Two: Improve our environmental awareness and knowledge. A good start is to
read up on local and global environmental issues, what are the trends and
problems, and what needs to be done. Ideally, a holistic view of the
environment should be adopted so that the interdependence of various
problems can be understood.

Three: Practise the 3 Rs – Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Doing so in this
sequence is important, as source reduction is usually the best way to
minimise wastage.

Reduce by not creating the wastage or minimising it in the beginning.
Reuse by using each item several times or for another purpose. Recycle by
sending the waste to be processed as a resource.

Four: Spread the message and influence others like family members,
friends, classmates or colleagues. We can also influence the organisation
that we belong to, be it a school, company or social group, to be more
environmentally friendly.

Five: Support local environmental initiatives and groups. Instead of
expecting the Government to take care of the environment, it is time for
us to take responsibility.

We can participate in Government initiatives and campaigns or support
local environmental causes, non-governmental organisations and
environmental groups.

Six: Use our rights as citizens and consumers. As citizens, we have the
right to participate in the formulation of Government policies regarding
the environment. This could be through dialogues or feedback and through
the media. As consumers, we can provide feedback or remind companies to be
more environmentally friendly.

We can all commit to take a step this World Environment Day.