When "Saving environment" is mentioned, perhaps many of us think "I, as one little individual can not make any change on a macro level issue like environment". I used to think the same until I knew a young Vietnamese wildlife conservationist by chance while surfing social media. She created a post named "100 small things I can do for the Earth within 100 days". As the title, she turned a non-concrete goal into actionable to-dos. Her post made me change my mind and I decided to make a change in my life by living a more eco-friendly lifestyle last year.
It was World Ocean Day last Friday (June 8th). The fact that plastic pollution reaches an alarming level now gives me a strong urge to write something about it.
The following photo, titled "Sewage surfer", is captured by American nature photographer Justin Hofman on a reef off the coast of Sumbawa Island in Indonesia. Hofman was nominated for Wildlife Photographer of the Year in 2017. The photograph shows how plastic we used confuse wildlife in the ocean and becomes a powerful statement on the pollution in our oceans.
Source: Natural History Museum
Most recently, a pilot whale died in Thailand after swallowing 80 plastic bags. You may think that it happened in Thailand and is not related to Vietnam but sadly, it is. They found one of plastic bag in the whale's stomach has three Vietnamese words on its cover" Bún Giò Heo"- the name of a pork noodle. I feft very bad...
Last week, I also read an article on Reuters saying a beach in the central Vietnam is full of blue plastic bags and Vietnam is the world's top-five plastic polluters, together with our neighbors China, Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand. It is not a good way to be shown on an international newspaper at all...
So,
WHAT ARE WE DOING TO OUR PLANET?
WHY ARE WE KILLING THESE INNOCENT ANIMALS?
WHAT KIND OF FUTURE ARE WE CREATING FOR NEXT GENERATIONS?
I used to think that if I do not throw waste all over the place and put it in the right place, it is good enough. I did not know that plastic items can take up to 500 years to decompose. I did not know that plastic ends up in the sea, which is very harmful to marine life. According to the United Nations, there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish by 2050 unless we take actions. Even if you dont care about existence of animals in the sea, you must care about your health. During decomposition, plastic breaks down into smaller pieces which contaminate salt and sea animals. Can you imagine if we eat salt, fish, crab and shrimp or drink water with plastic inside? It is what seafood lovers like me do not want to hear at all.
It is time to cut down on plastic in our life and it is not somebody else's responsibility.
It is my responsibility. It is your responsibility. It is our responsibility.
I do believe that even small actions can make an impact, even tiny. Therefore, if we take actions together, we can make our life and our environment better.
In my next posts, I will share my own experiences to use less plastic in daily life.
Thank you for reading :)
