Vanessa Byrne / Managing Director
My 2 cents …
This month has been a huge reality check . Climate change is affecting this world , and people are dying . It is indeed very painful to see countries suffer the wrath of this ever-growing problem . Some very close to home indeed .
It is evident that the Brazilian Amazon rainforest , Earth ’ s green lung , now produces more carbon than it absorbs . Check out our write up on page 15 . We are failing as a species to survive . Some of us must think themselves as superhuman and that they can withstand anything . Reality is that we are not immune to the surrounding environment , we must respect our habitat and protect it as much as we can .
There ’ s a big debate going on locally regarding speed limits . People in favour and people very much against . We have written an article on this , you can find it on page 26 . Why are some of us not seeing the bigger picture here ? This is not about our comfort and our daily habits – this is about our future and our children ’ s future and the fact that we simply cannot carry on the way we are .
Why cannot we stand shoulder to shoulder welcoming and indeed make changes to improve our environment ? Why always challenge any positive change ? Why must we always think we know better ? Why must we always resist anything that directly affects us ? Why always justify your errors by confirming others ? Why always start with what someone else should doing instead of taking responsibility for our own actions ?!”
Why can ’ t we understand that any change done will positively impact our environment and we should welcome this instead of rebelling against it , after all it is change that is needed for our survival .
One thing I ’ m sure we must all agree now is that our world is changing and very fast . Our environment is already volitile and in some areas uninhabitable .
We need to evolve as a species if we have any chance of survival in this planet . What kind of a planet are we leaving for our children ?
In my view this starts with changing our mindset and habits- it cannot be done in any other way but re-evolving and amending our ways – it might be inconvenient or difficult at first but if we don ’ t , we will have no tomorrow and our children will simply be the victims of our own inaction or sheer selfish and comfortable attitude ?
Evidence shows that the world is changing even faster than scientists imagined , so I say must we .
Is it that we are in denial , when the pain of inaction is being felt everywhere , in front of our very eyes or are we just hoping this will magically go away ?
I refuse to give up hope and will be relentless in my efforts . A friend of mine once said to me , there is no perfect environmentalist . Changing habits take time but it all starts by being conscious of life around us and the options we have .
Thinking twice of habits you know are not sustainable , going for that walk to the shops rather than picking up your moped – slow down and enjoy life . It ’ s not all about going from A to B – it ’ s about the journey – put those headphones on and enjoy the experience .
We need to invest more in our recycling practices . Litter has become a major problem in our world . Check out Ecoembes article on page 25 . Locally yes , the people in power can and need to invest more into this . As a community and voters we do not campaign enough in these areas . Investment in this is so desperately needed . So , here ’ s my 2 cents … Instead of trying to get the upper hand on who knows better – sit down and watch the news and ask yourself , are YOU doing enough to help the crisis that we are in ?
I must mention on two new regular columns we started this month - The Voice of the Future found on page 112 and Clubhouse Minds found on page 110 . Both sharing views from locals that we thought too important not to share . We are very excited to work with Clubhouse and local schools to share written pieces done by students and members . If you would like to have your piece shared in our publication please contact Clubhouse directly or email us on otwomagazine @ gmail . com and we will be happy to chat .
Peace and love to all
10 OTWO 25 / AUGUST 2021