Ava's Story: Changing winters...

I still vividly remember a few years ago when I was in primary four, the winter was exceptionally cold.

Everyone was wrapped in a hundred layers of clothes, yet we were shivering feverishly, our teeth were chattering uncontrollably over the bonfire. We could literally see white smoke exhaling out in the air from our mouths. However, in the next few years, the winters didn’t even feel like winters! My down jackets, scarves and gloves were sitting in my wardrobe untouched, wrapped in piles of dust. This was when I realised we had to do something or else the severe consequences can never be reversed.

I used to think even if I was being eco-friendly, it wouldn’t have created an impact nor made any difference.

But it dawned on me that if people thought of the way I did, then who would start acting responsibly to clean up the mess we have created? Thousands of habitats, millions of plants and animals perish at our cruel hands. They suffer, yet their agonising cries of excruciating pain go unheard! The adorable polar bears and penguins are losing their homes, yet they have not done anything wrong! The figures are rising rapidly in front of our own eyes. There would likely be at least a 1.5-degree (Celcius) rise in temperature or more in the next 10 years if we don’t start living up to our previous mistakes, which does not include tipping points, most feedback loops, additional warming hidden by toxic air pollution. For more than 30 years, science has been crystal clear -- our home is sick, the entire ecosystem is collapsing. But don’t worry, it is better late than never; the tides can be turned if we are united.

There are many little, easy actions we can do in our daily lives to save Mother Earth. Don’t order takeaways, bring your own bags/containers, use metal straws, avoid using air conditioners whenever possible, switch off the lights when we leave the room, reduce water waste, stop using plastic bags/bottles/foam containers, use both sides of paper before recycling them, consume less meat (eat Omnipork instead, it’s delectable and mouth-watering I can assure you!)... just to name a few. You might have heard this platitude thousands of times, but these are actually significant, which is a big step forward to accomplishing our environmentally friendly goals! Why don’t we start acting if we are capable of doing so?

Our deadline is edging near. We can already sense the impending doom. We can’t ignore the warnings of nature. Are you sure you can live to the guilt, knowing that you are one of the culprits “contributing” to the earth’s death? Are you willing to see your future generations writhe in the scorching heat, suck our disgusting carbon emissions and consume seafood which is full of microplastics? If not, please stop indulging in empty talks and give ourselves excuses, but instead take concrete actions! I hereby urge everyone to amplify our voices and join hands to solve this critical crisis. If we are in this together, we can inspire other people to follow our lead. Then, we can achieve what we have dreamed for a very long time -- restore our clean and healthy Earth. Remember, every small action makes a world of difference!