Joe Lim

From the moment we open our eyes in the morning, to the quiet time we have (hopefully) just before bed;
we consume, consume and consume.

There is this quality we have, besides intelligence, no other animal or plant have;
GREED

It's not about going back to the stone-ages, to go around hugging trees or treat stray cats better than our fellow humans;
But rather, the excessive consumerism that is ever so conveniently projected in our lives these days;
confusing us the difference between a Need and a Want.

It's all about being Environmentally Mindful...

Mindful when we next go to the shopping mall/supermarket;
Mindful when we use the next straw or plastic stirrer;
Mindful when we celebrate festive occassions (from catering to decorations);

that we are just one of the 6.6 billion humans living on Earth right now.
that all the plants and animals can 'live happily ever after' without us BUT not vice versa
that we have just been on earth 200,000 years ago (earth is 4.5 billion years old)

We are practically 'guest' on this planet;
but look at what we have done to it despite being only present 0.004% of the time since the formation of earth...

I think we should all Pause and Comtemplate...

Source : http://artofrebirth.blogspot.com/2008/01/environmental-mindfulness.html

Alvin Goh

What is Earth Day to me?

Frankly speaking, to me, Earth Day is just a symbolic landmark, just like Earth Hour to remind people that dreams though they may have, of large houses, luxury cars and fancy dining, in the end, it is still important to be down to earth.

It is a reminder to us that unlike the number of zeros on the banknotes of some currencies plagued by inflation, the amount of resources that we have around this globe starts at a fixed number, and shrinks finally to zero at some point of time. Once you reach that, there's no turning back time, and only time knows when those resources are going to regenerate themselves.

Well then, I certainly don't find the need for you to start planting trees just for this symbolic day (well, if you want to, of course its good). I just think that every day should be Earth Day, much like we all think every day should be a public holiday. This may sound naggy, but this is the way it should be.

Earth Day or not, everyone should try to be frugal. Its not about recycling or going vegetarian but solely on minimizing our waste footprint. More than ever we are wasting like there isn't that zero. We are taking plastic bags as if they were our lifesource. A plastic bag for a couple of heavy books, that's fine, but when we're taking it to house a single bar of chocolate, thats just too much.

This Earth Day, and in fact every subsequent Earth Day, I urge everyone to stop and think about what harm you've done to the earth the past year. That's right, SHAME YOURSELF, SHAME ON YOU, because you should be ashamed of yourself when you left the aircon on when you went out, when you bought that reusable bag "for the environment", only to put your plastic bags of groceries inside.

I know I'm guilty of some of these actions myself, nobody's perfect, but perhaps you could be a little better- next year.

Cheers & Happy Earth Day!

| More...