Saving our planet takes live action
by Saada Branko
One day I decided to change my laundry detergent . Hardly worth a mention , yet it was . The ad for Tru Earth ’ s zero-waste detergent strips caught my undivided attention and my one-year subscription . Leading up to that moment , I shrank from the task of saving the planet . How could I do my part when I still hoarded plastic bags ? What sacrifice was I making when weekly I ’ d sit in an idling car outside a drive-thru restaurant waiting for my combo ? All the while , the space in my laundry closet was steadily shrinking from the plastic jugs and bottles stored and never reused . Assessing these failures , I knew reducing my plastic waste was not just timely , it was doable .
A battle cry
Saving the planet takes real effort , real commitment and real acceptance of what is no longer sustainable . The real , live-action heroes around us are driving that point all the way to where we live . When world leaders converged for
COP27 in Egypt , Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley met with the attending youth on day two of the summit , telling them , “ The most important thing is I need you guys to read and to become conversant with the issues . Because if you ’ re not , that is when you ’ re going to lose the battle .”
I shrank from the task of saving the planet . How could I do my part when I still hoarded plastic bags ?
Mottley has joined the masses , young and older , taking on the fight of our lives . They ’ re disrupting the unsustainable world that we built from unfettered profit motive , unaccountable industries and that invisible hand of market forces led by our insatiable demand .
For example , who knew that the film industry generates a carbon footprint so large it sounds alarms ? The cast and crews of these productions did . The founder of Earth Angel , an environmental organization working with international productions to do better , described the outcome for The Guardian , “ We obviously construct these massive sets , we shoot in them for a few days sometimes , then we tear them all down – and typically , that ’ s going into a dumpster .”
Imagine obscene amounts of polystyrene and plastic tossed into landfills . This industry-wide problem of generating a massive carbon footprint and producing millions of metric tons of CO2 each year prompted environmental firms and individuals on film production crews to call on governments to better regulate . Some policymakers are listening . Vancouver established a 50 % discount on filming permits for productions that forgo diesel generators in favour of those that are battery powered .
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