Be the Planet Earth's Hero (THEMATIC)

    In this world filled with filth, is there anything we can do other than being one of the biggest  contributors of trash? Is there anything WE can do to help our mother earth become better? Oh, yes there is. We can do so many things to help and we need to start doing it. It has been long since our world started accommodating wastes mostly produced by no other than the homo sapiens a.k.a us human beings. Well, now that the modern times have started, it is no longer acceptable to just throw away trash and not care about it. The standards of our planet have heightened, and we need to be able to reach it. If we want to continue living in this world with breathtaking views, fresh and clean air, lesser endangered species whether be it land animals or sea creatures, clean roads with no piece of trash in sight, then we better act and save the planet before it's too late. But before all that, where should we start? 

        We start small, of course. If you can start big, why not? But with every process, we need to start at square 1 first. And with that, we start with picking up trash from the ground or a much better term would be Clean-Up Drive. You might think that it won't benefit us at all due to it being such a "small act". It is a big act, big enough that it can be our steppingstone to start something bigger and new. With Clean-Up Drive, this can help in maintaining a clean environment especially when done frequently whether be it in the ocean, school, mountains, everywhere. Don't you think that it is a sore in the eye to see plastics scattered on roads that don't get cleaned up? And cleaning and picking it up alone would be tiring if you do it all the time. It is best to engage with your community in activities like this that can help us create a better and cleaner environment for the present and future generations. With the help of our community, we can do so many things. 

        Coastal Clean-Up Drive is better done in groups to be able to work faster and more effective. It is a vast ocean, trash from different places get washed up in our shores every single day and the least we can do is help clean it up to prevent further damages caused such as causing harm to sea creatures. Sea creatures often mistaken small pieces of junks as foods that's why they swallow it and when they do, the junk won't melt in their stomach but rather it would stay as it is and eventually damage their digestive system. Other are those sea creatures that gets stuck in fishing nets that are scattered in the ocean, turtles that have straws stuck in their nostrils, and toxins that get spilled in the bodies of water that damages their habitats.

   

      Another way of helping the environment is Tree Planting. It is a long-term process because simply planting a tree won't make the cut, you also have to take care of the tree, look after it and check if it is growing. Actually, we should not call it tree planting, it should be called Tree Planting & Tree Caring. Planting trees with the community is a big step in creating a pollution free environment. It will also help when floodings happen, it can prevent landslides in mountains and possibly avoid accidents that happen in roads alongside mountains. In addition to those solutions are joining environmental organizations such as the Youth for Environment in Schools Organization and the Ilocos Sur Environmental Enthusiasts. I myself is a part of both organizations and can very much say that the youth is thriving to create a better environment for everyone. 

        There are more things that we can do to help our environment such as lessening the use of vehicles that produce smoke and instead, start walking, riding bicycles, or using public transportations. Another example is using eco-friendly products in your daily lives like eco bags instead of new plastic bags, tumblers instead of plastic bottles, and metal straws instead of plastic straws to avoid the use of plastics that will most probably end up in the oceans. Plastics lasts more than we actually think so it is best to avoid using it. And when we actually walk our talk, we are a step closer in achieving our dream: To have an environment that is clean and green. 

Let us take care of our Earth because there is no planet B.