With COVID-19 infections evident in 176 countries the pandemic is the most significant threat to humanity since world war ll. So why aren’t we learning to do anything differently! Do we think we’re invincible? Or do we just not care because, ya know, we’ll be long dead before it’s really a problem? We’re killing our earth, the earth that we need. We now know that we are destroying our world, and we could be the last generations that could do something about it. 

With the population increase the pressure on nature and the environment has soared as we consume more and more. To meet these demands humans are deliberately changing the face of our earth. At least 70% of the earth’s land has been utilised for growing plants and keeping animals to feed us. But thanks to consumerism and the evolution of humankind, we don’t see it.

Now thanks to globalisation and consumerism, trading overseas has increased by 900%. We can walk into a supermarket any time of the year and get anything and everything we need. Environmental disasters are happening in the world but if we’re not directly affected by it, we’re not willing to do anything about it. 

But the world is crying out, the pandemic being the biggest threat to humankind since 1939. But not the only threat of 2020. We’ve seen raging bush fires, devastating floods, volcano eruptions, earthquakes, locust swarms, cyclones and as if we thought that wasn’t enough natural disaster. We went and dumped 1000 tonnes of oil into the sea. So glad I’m not an oil & gas lawyer right now. When will we learn?

There are 7.8 billion people on the planet, you don’t have to make great big leaping changes. If we all just thought a little bit more about our lifestyles and made small changes where we could. It would make a difference. Think about the way you consume, is it sustainable. Try moving away from a meat dominated diet. Even just having a meat free meal two days a week. One of the biggest causes of deforestation is the need to create agricultural land to feed cattle…to feed us.

Use your voice, speaking up is one of the most important things you can do especially if it’s to the right people. Email your elected officials. Petition for them to commit to action to protect our natural world. Talk to your friends, neighbours and colleagues and get them to make positive changes too no matter how small. Speak up, speak to everyone, and make your voice heard.

Get yourself clued up on the facts, stay up to date with the dark internet news on the state of our natural world and work out what you can do. One of the best things you can do is to keep yourself informed – the more you know the better. It leaves you better equipped to have those conversations with your friends and family and the people you want to influence.