One of David Attenborough’s latest
documentaries is all about life on our planet and
the ways in which humans have damaged it and
ways in which we can save it and ourselves and
still live on this beautiful earth and thrive.
If you have watched this documentary and have
come away feeling like you personally need to
save the world , you are not the only one. It
makes you want to jump into action and lay
concrete plans on how to change the way we live
and act on this beautiful planet and how to
protect it for future generations to come.
Growing up I watched many of David
Attenborough’s programmes and it was a delight
to see clips from his earlier life and travels where
he is as excited as he is today when talking about
various species and earth as a whole.
David Attenborough has a way in which to
connect to his audience and his heartfelt pleas hit
home. He doesn’t sugarcoat the destruction that
has occurred already, the irreversible damage
and lost species to name a few. There is hope
though and you can hear in his voice as he
outlays the changes and plans that need to
happen going forward. These are:
- Put people and planet before profit.
Achieving commercial success doesn’t have to
be at the expense of people and planet.
It’s fairly obvious that organisations can’t continue
with traditional business models of shareholder
primacy, and indifference to environmental
impact. - Replace oil with renewable energy.
The world needs to urgently find ways (and
implement them) to use fully renewable energy
and deviate away from fossil fuels . The air and
water will be cleaner and there
will be less noise in the world.
- Embrace a more sustainable lifestyle
Greenhouse gases need to be reduced urgently
in order to start the process of reversing climate
change. Converting wild spaces to farmland and
other developments such as housing as well as
the overuse of fertilisers and fresh water needs to
be stopped. Reducing the use of our planets
natural resources is the only way to secure a
future for the human race. - Create no fishing zones in the ocean.
The fishing industry is causing the most damage
to the ocean. By creating these no fishing zones,
the marine world has time to recover, fish get a
chance to grow older, reproduce and repopulate
other areas.
5 Farm smarter and eat less meat.
Grain grown to feed cows consumes 60% of
all farmland which means we are eating too much
meat.
In order to get more food from less land humans
need to reduce their meat consumption and live
off a more plant based diet. Habits can be
changed and a concerted effort needs to made to
do this.
- Protect the forests.
By destroying forests we are losing carbon
dioxide to the air and forcing certain species into
extinction. Ways need to be found to turn the
forests and all wilderness into something viable
for those who use it and live from it and this in
turn will protect the biodiversity. - Raise people out of poverty to slow the
population growth.
Raising people out of poverty is the key to
bringing rapid population growth to an end. By
doing this everyone gets a fair share , diet and
health care improves, child mortality
rates decrease and families have less children.
There are ways that we, as individuals can
contribute to saving our planet. We can’t rely on
only the leaders of nations to make these
decisions, we can help too.
Reduce, recycle and reuse whatever you can,
grow your food, where possible (potatoes can be
grown on an apartment’s balcony) , buy less
products that use plastic packaging ,(this is vitally
important as plastic is affecting our ovean life and
wildlife too) use the less is more approach, don’t
buy things you don’t need, unplug devices when
not in use and choose renewable energy where
you can.
If we all start making changes to the way we live
and breathe our planet will reap the rewards and
slowly recover. It is each individual’s
responsibility to act now, before it is too late!