!!! ALERT !!!
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 |  Gaza - New York Times |
Citizens of every country say, “but it’s got nothing to do with me… How can I do anything? Someone else will fix it – I don’t need to worry. What can I do? I’m only one person – are you kidding me? Who needs to think about that?”
The fact of the matter is – we all need to think, act and make a difference as to how we treat the earth in general, for eventually everything ends up – either in, on or affecting our oceans, which in turn affects our food source; the health, maintenance and continuance of all species - in our oceans and on land.
Everything is linked and the sustenance of all species is at risk. We are at risk, not just the animal kingdom. The cycle of life and death affects everything and everyone – we are inextricably linked, far more than most of the human race realises.
It is so easy to throw down rubbish at one’s feet, so easy to say – “the cleaner will pick it up, it doesn’t belong to me. I didn’t do it – why should I pick it up?”
The fact of the matter is – we all need to think, act and make a difference as to how we treat the earth in general, for eventually everything ends up – either in, on or affecting our oceans, which in turn affects our food source; the health, maintenance and continuance of all species - in our oceans and on land.
Everything is linked and the sustenance of all species is at risk. We are at risk, not just the animal kingdom. The cycle of life and death affects everything and everyone – we are inextricably linked, far more than most of the human race realises.
It is so easy to throw down rubbish at one’s feet, so easy to say – “the cleaner will pick it up, it doesn’t belong to me. I didn’t do it – why should I pick it up?”
Greenqueen.com.hk
Why? Because like any problem, ‘what you walk past – you accept.’
What about - assault and battery, rape and sexual misdemeanors of children, women, men; war crimes against humanity, inequality, racism, gender crimes… Do you walk past these? Do you look away – pretend you can’t see or hear the screams of pain – the agony of brutality – the viciousness of repugnant, vindictive, human behaviours upon others? Do you say stop? Do you make any effort to prevent it? Do you watch it on TV, socials or make fun of everything your eyes are glued to? Do you re-post this appalling behaviour and add to the continuance of its prevalence on our planet?
“What you walk past – you accept” – as ‘the norm’.
Because you make it ‘the norm’, by turning away from the problem.
Our oceans need and deserve our attention – not because we make ourselves out to be more superior, more important or feel we are more relevant in the grand scheme of things, but because everything matters – we all matter – you matter to someone, somewhere on the planet. And… on your deathbed, you are going to ask, “Did I matter?” “Did I do everything I could have, to be a good person? Was I loved, will I be missed or remembered when I am gone? Have I said everything I wanted to say – have I appreciated everyone while I was here?”
And you will say, “I don’t want to leave.”
What about - assault and battery, rape and sexual misdemeanors of children, women, men; war crimes against humanity, inequality, racism, gender crimes… Do you walk past these? Do you look away – pretend you can’t see or hear the screams of pain – the agony of brutality – the viciousness of repugnant, vindictive, human behaviours upon others? Do you say stop? Do you make any effort to prevent it? Do you watch it on TV, socials or make fun of everything your eyes are glued to? Do you re-post this appalling behaviour and add to the continuance of its prevalence on our planet?
“What you walk past – you accept” – as ‘the norm’.
Because you make it ‘the norm’, by turning away from the problem.
Our oceans need and deserve our attention – not because we make ourselves out to be more superior, more important or feel we are more relevant in the grand scheme of things, but because everything matters – we all matter – you matter to someone, somewhere on the planet. And… on your deathbed, you are going to ask, “Did I matter?” “Did I do everything I could have, to be a good person? Was I loved, will I be missed or remembered when I am gone? Have I said everything I wanted to say – have I appreciated everyone while I was here?”
And you will say, “I don’t want to leave.”
https://www.aljazeera.com/gallery/2019/11/26/gender-alert-global-protests-denounce-violence-against-women/
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There is not one species on this planet that does not deserve our care and attention. We are all gifted the breath of life and the finality of death – we all bleed - equally.
World Ocean Day is not just about the cheers, the drinks and the parties to pat oneself on the back. It is about looking around us – seeing how we live and recognizing that what we do every day - affects someone else, some other species, someone else’s habitat – home or environment. We can choose to selfishly ignore – destroying everything good in the world, or we can choose not to turn a blind eye - pretending problems do not exist.
We can choose not to walk past any of it - anymore.
We can choose to stand up for all life forms; we can choose to say “enough!” and not wait, for the person next to us - to do something. We can take responsibility and do our part – each and every one of us.
World Ocean Day is not just about the cheers, the drinks and the parties to pat oneself on the back. It is about looking around us – seeing how we live and recognizing that what we do every day - affects someone else, some other species, someone else’s habitat – home or environment. We can choose to selfishly ignore – destroying everything good in the world, or we can choose not to turn a blind eye - pretending problems do not exist.
We can choose not to walk past any of it - anymore.
We can choose to stand up for all life forms; we can choose to say “enough!” and not wait, for the person next to us - to do something. We can take responsibility and do our part – each and every one of us.
genetics.org.uk
We all went to school – either in an institution or by some family home education – we all tell our kids to do the right thing – stand up for one another, to not harm or destroy. Why? Because deep down we all know what is morally ‘right’. It is in our blood – imprinted in our DNA – this is who we are.
But, we just follow the pack – because no one likes to not be part of the majority, because that means the majority can pick on us. So, like sheep, people follow ‘the norm’ – making ‘the norm’ - more ‘the norm’
Let’s change ‘the norm’.
Bite the bullet. Stand up for what’s right – be that on World Ocean Day or on some other level, where we see injustice happening every day, every hour, every minute and second around the world.
But, we just follow the pack – because no one likes to not be part of the majority, because that means the majority can pick on us. So, like sheep, people follow ‘the norm’ – making ‘the norm’ - more ‘the norm’
Let’s change ‘the norm’.
Bite the bullet. Stand up for what’s right – be that on World Ocean Day or on some other level, where we see injustice happening every day, every hour, every minute and second around the world.
ANDRIJA ILIC/AFP via Getty Images
chipandco.com
Start by picking up after yourself – help each other – our kids, family, our next-door neighbours, people we walk past in the street - to understand that it is not right to expect the world to be just given to them; you have to earn the right to be here. That means standing up for every, living being on this planet – whether they can speak for themselves or not…Yeah, it’s hard. Yeah, you will get resistance. Yeah, you will get, “but why?”
Because every living thing, matters on our planet – they are family. And just because an entity does not speak our language, does not mean they do not speak at all, or feel, or wish for things to be different. We just have not learned their language and vice versa.
Let’s change ‘the norm’.
Because every living thing, matters on our planet – they are family. And just because an entity does not speak our language, does not mean they do not speak at all, or feel, or wish for things to be different. We just have not learned their language and vice versa.
Let’s change ‘the norm’.
We all love our advertising...or do we? It benefits the astute businessman and company holder or retailer and yes even us, the consumer. A bargain is everything, isn't it? To know where and when the best bargain can be had or where one can find the most suitable toy for last minute birthdays or Xmas gifts, is crucial.
We think, we need to know and businesses feel they need to remind us that they are still on the planet - to sell us a billion and one items that they convince us, we can’t live our lives without and can’t get anywhere else in the world, except at their store. But...what if there was no paper advertising? What if, a rule could be passed in parliament that could reduce the amount of advertising that bombards our senses? Could there be a time limit on what, how long, and to what amount our lives could be intruded upon by advertising? Have you ever thought about it? |
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I have given this considerable thought over the years and feel we need to start somewhere; we need to start at the most serious of advertising that not only invades our homes every last day of the year, but depletes our planet of vital resources that are difficult to grow and replace – without which we would all shrivel up and die.
Yup – you might have guessed - the beloved letterbox drop, advertising. So...for the last two months, I have collected every last piece of advertising through my mailbox and the amount of unread, wasted paper is more than staggering. It is mind-blowing! |
Photo - Sketa Oz - Are you kidding me?
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From December 1st through until Sunday, January 31st 2015, exactly 455 pieces of advertising have entered my letterbox. This is 28.43676581 pounds of advertising = 12.8987 kilograms of wasted paper. Yup! You read right! I have counted every last piece, weighed and placed them all over my backyard and photographed them just to show you, the seriousness of this problem.
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Photo - Sketa Oz - It couldn't be that bad - could it?
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According to the Office of Economic and Statistical Research – www.qgso.qld.gov.au Toowoomba Regional Council projections indicated that by 2016 (this year), “the expected population of the Toowoomba region would be between 175,503 and 185,039 persons”. If we work out the mean value, it is a population of 180,271 persons – this equals around 69,335 occupied dwellings (180,271 divided by 2.6 persons per dwellings).
Photo - Sketa Oz - Just another number!
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Photo - Sketa Oz - How big is this problem?
Let me put this in perspective...
If every dwelling receives similar amounts of advertising in their letterbox over the December ~ January period, we are looking at 455 pieces x 69,335 dwellings = 31,547,425 pieces of letterbox advertising or 12.8987 kilograms x 69,335 dwellings = 894,331.3645 kilograms of paper. |
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Now I know, not every dwelling will receive the letterbox drops. So, let’s round-down the figures, to make them more manageable. Let’s use just 50,000 occupied dwellings, multiply that by 455 pieces and wallah! 22,750,000 pieces of junk mail or...12.8987 kgs x 50,000 dwellings = 644,935 kilograms of paper.
Remember these figures are just for.... 2 months! |
Photo - Sketa Oz - Counting ain't easy...
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If we do the maths for 1 year...
22,750,000 pieces of junk mail (2 month figures)
x 6
= 1,336,500,000 pieces of mail.
OR
644,935 kilograms of paper (2 month figures)
x 6
=3,869,610 kilograms of paper
= 3869.61 metric tonnes of paper every year.
And that is only for 50,000 dwellings, based on the Toowoomba regions population figures!
Photo - Sketa Oz - The Sea of Advertising
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Photo - Sketa Oz
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Now if you ask me, that is an awful lot of paper and an awful lot of trees cut down for nothing, except pumping up someone’s letterbox. Receivers will flick through maybe 5% of what is delivered and then throw it into the closest bin! And not always the recycle bin, either.
So, how much would all that convert to - for Queensland or for that matter...Australia? Could our problem be that bad? Well, it’s diabolical and our carbon footprint is humongous! Given this wastage is only for letterbox drops, on a 2-month period, I can’t imagine what the figures would look like for the rest of the paper, we waste. According to the cencusdata.abs.gov.au, Australian private dwellings for 2011 were 9,117,033. Fortunately, I don’t have figures for 2016. So let’s just crunch the numbers, based on 2011. 9,117,033 dwellings x 455 pieces = 4,148,250,015 x 6 = 24,889,500,090 pieces of advertising per year. Or... 9,117,033 dwellings x 12.8987 kilograms =117,597,873.557 X 6 = 705,587,241.342 kilograms of paper OR an unbelievable, 705,587.241342 tonnes of paper! |
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So how many trees are needed to make this much paper? According to conservatree.org it takes:
705,587.241342 tonnes of paper X 7.68 trees, ? We would need: 5,418,910.013 trees |
Photo - Sketa Oz
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Again, that’s an awful lot of trees to be cut down for unread, wasted advertising and we are only talking about – JUNK MAIL!
It is hard to fathom or imagine how many trees are cut down for...needed publications. So again... |
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WHAT IF...?
What if, parliament passed a bill to prevent firms from wastefully advertising? What if, businesses could only advertise once a week, using only 1 or 2 sheets of paper = 2~4 sides of A4 paper? Personally, I think this could work well - for every last person on the planet! Yet, being told by businesses who use junk mail to convince us, “you can save 5 cents by shopping with us, but we’ll have to chop down 5,418,910.0135 trees every year to tell you about it... I don’t think so! So, what if Australia? |
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References:
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by Selina Kucks
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