It's getting hot in here

I am an Australian. My house or town was not personally impacted by the bushfires. My life has fortunately remained un-charred. I had some friends trapped on the coast. I had family told to be ready to evacuate. I had a friend almost lose her childhood home. Yet, I didn’t lose anything. But I feel the hurt from friends who no longer have a home town. And I ache hearing of my favourite places, bursting with natural beauty burning up, leaving a mountain of ash and the bones of animals in the wake of the fires. I ache for my country. I ache for the lost homes and businesses. I ache for the loss of life. Most of all, I ache for change.

Now more than ever it has become clear that change is needed. And I’m talking big change. Huge change. As much change as the land mass covered by the bushfires and the loss of the lives of the Australian animals.

I can make as many small changes as I can with reducing meat intake, travelling by plane less, consuming more organic produce, boycotting palm oil, and avoiding single use items like plastic straws, coffee cups, and plastic-covered food. But if I alone make these changes and my neighbour doesn’t recycle their beer cans, my work colleagues still come into work with their latte in a non-recyclable cup, and my cousin consumes unsustainable palm oil daily in her margarine, how is this change effective?

Being a regular member in our society, I can make small changes. These changes do mean something, but they will never be enough to stop climate change. I can tell friends my views and they might see differently. I can share a post on Facebook or donate a small amount to a charity in need, like say the Australian bushfire appeal. But I can’t make big change because I don’t have a position of power. You do. I have a voice but how do I make people hear it? You can make people hear it. You can make people hear my voice and the voices of countless other Australians who feel the same. You are able to change the world, not in small ways like I have to, but in huge powerful ways.

Do you want your children or grandchildren to know a world without polar bears, orang-utans, and bees? Do you wish for them to never eat strawberries or avocados because we wiped out the biggest pollinators on the planet? Do you want them to see a world that has become so hot that parts of Australia and Africa become dry and inhabitable? Do you want the polar ice caps to melt increasing sea levels, resulting in floods, animal extinction, and major coastal displacement? If you really want all of these things, then do nothing, but if any of this makes you think differently, then do something to change it.

Utilise the resources that Australia has. Why isn’t Australia the leader in solar energy production? Decrease the use of coal and use solar and wind power. How is it that 60% of Australia’s electricity is powered by coal when the entire country is bursting with sunshine? How can you let this continue? Why would you choose to power our country with coal when its impact on the environment is so detrimental? Why are you choosing to pollute our country and our lungs instead of keeping it clean?

And if you’re worried about losing jobs in the coal mining industry, increase business in solar energy and solar panel production. Create new cleaner jobs that Australians can be proud of.

You can be better. Do you want to inspire a country, or the whole world to nurture its surroundings? To recycle. To consume less. To plant more trees and to cut down fewer. To preserve the species living right now. To keep the world full of beautiful food, water, and wildlife. And to keep it habitable so generations of humans can live on.

Do you want to be remembered as a wallflower or a hero? It’s your decision.

In the wise words of Nelly, ‘It’s getting hot in here’, and if Australia increases in heat, in fires, and the drought doesn’t stop, I’m fucking off to New Zealand.