Waste: The way we live

Opening the front door. Taking a few slow steps. Standing outside and feeling the morning breeze on my face, listening to the joyful conversations of the birds. Looking at green trees with rain drops falling slowly down from the leaves. Picking fresh berries and peas growing in the garden. Taking a deep breath in from the fresh and crisp morning air. Looking at the sun rise.

I feel joy for a moment.

I feel really fortunate to still be able to have this experience every morning when I wake up and go outside. It makes me wonder how many more mornings will I be so fortunate? Too many people don’t have this same experience anymore. Either they are too sick to be able to go outside or the air is too polluted where they live to be able to enjoy being outside.

In the past few days, I had multiple conversations with friends, co-workers and family about the way we live. The conversations started after I wrote an article about nuclear waste and our environment. People I talked with felt very compassionate about this topic. Ranges of emotions were in the air. All of the discussions ended with similar conclusions. We had come up with more questions than answers. The way we live is not sustainable. Multiple questions circled around us.

How did we get here? How can we stop and reverse the effects and the harm we have done? Is it even possible to reverse the consequences and destructions caused by all the waste we been producing or did we go down on the road so steep that there is no return? Did we ruined our planet and our existence with creating so much waste that causes harm? Why are we using and producing so many products that are harmful for us, our children, animals and our environment? Could we drink the water from our streams? Rivers? Probably not. Most of our waters are too polluted to be able to use them for drinking, cooking, or bathing. Our air we breathe, the water we drink and food including plants animals we consume can make us very sick. The waste we create from manufacturing products makes us unwell.

Air pollution causes lung problems, people have difficulty breathing, develop asthma and chronic diseases. Water pollution creates multiple stomach problems, cancers, diarrhea. Eating polluted foods creates multiple stomach problems, viruses, toxins building up in our bodies causing poisoning, cancers, and death.

As far as I am aware our planet earth is the only one where we can live right now. Is it possible to change our way and create more sustainable living? Is it possible to live on our planet with respect and love for our environment? Can we afford not to change our ways? The way we are living right now is leading us in the wrong direction. We had created a situation that ultimately hurries us towards our own extinction. What would it take to care more about each other, our environment and planet more than about wealth, power, and money? We cannot breathe in money. Money cannot make us healthy once diseases conquer our bodies. Could we learn to live in a respectful way and leave no footprint and leave our environment in a better condition for our children? Could we learn to respect plants and animals instead of just using and abusing them? Could we learn to use natural products instead of chemicals? Could we eat products that are not perfect but organic?

For all of us I hope we can.

Thank you for reading,

Gabriella

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