Changing our mindset to protect our planet

Changmai
Meridian Junior College
Singapore

The planet we live on today faces a serious crisis stemming from environmental issues from all over the world. We are solely responsible for the serious and irreversible damage done to our environment every single day. Hence, there is an increasingly urgent need for us to protect the environment today. Fortunately, more countries are now beginning to realise what their non-environmentally friendly actions would mean for the future of the planet we live on. This has led to more people actively discussing the question of how we protect our planet?

In my opinion, in order to successfully protect our planet, the most crucial strategy we must undertake is to ensure that people have the right mindset towards the environment. This is because it is our thinking that determines our actions most of the time. As Albert Einstein once said: 'It is more difficult to change a person's mindset than to split an atom.' Hence, ensuring that people have the correct mindset towards the environment would mean half the battle of protecting the planet is won.

What then, is the ideal mindset one should have towards our environment? Firstly, we must not take our environment for granted. Our environment provides numerous benefits for us to enjoy; it is only right if we protect it and ensure that it can be preserved in the best state. Secondly, people should also consider the consequences their actions would have on the environment. If everyone has this mindset in place, the planet would definitely be more protected in the future.

Following this change in mindset, we should then begin to act. Let us begin with ourselves. We should encourage people around us to adopt environmentally friendly ways, regardless of the magnitude of our actions. We should never underestimate a simple action, like recycling plastic bottles, as it can bring about a huge difference if everyone does it. I am sure it does not take a humungous effort to recycle; hence it is everyone's responsibility to play their part. In addition, gentle reminders should be given to people who may have neglected the environment in their actions. If every one of us encourages one other person to be more environmentally responsible, in no time, all the people in the world would have at least learnt about the importance of protecting the environment.

Moving on, the most important organisation of a country, its government, should carry out their responsibility to ensure that people protect the environment. Undoubtedly, the government's role is an important catalyst. Firstly, the governments of countries all over the world should have the right mindset of protecting the environment. This is becoming increasingly hard as many governments value the importance of economic development for their country over the welfare of the environment. I would say they should rethink where their priorities lie, because in the long run, they will come to realise that what they are doing to the environment in order to achieve economic growth will cost them a planet.

With the right mindset about the environment in place, the government should then come up with strategies, which aim to instill this mindset in their people. For example, the government can initiate green activities throughout the country and continuously encourage the public through environmental talks. With the government's propaganda efforts, the public is likely to cooperate.

The government should also consider incorporating a practical strategy towards achieving the goal of instilling the right mindset. For example, if people were to see views of the state of the environment relative to the past, and learn about what it would mean for the future of the planet, it would definitely be a great wake-up call for them.

To achieve this, governments throughout the world can display shocking images of the impact human beings' actions have had on the environment when addressing the nation during their environmental talks. One example is using scenes comparing the Northern and Southern polar caps fifty years ago and today. Graphs indicating the increasing temperature of the planet should also be displayed. All this shocking evidence of the destruction we have done to our environment would undoubtedly cause people to sit up and think about the welfare of the environment.

Besides this, governments should go further and explain what such shocking evidence may mean for the planet many years down the road. Human beings usually demand concrete figures and evidence before trusting anything. Hence, feeding them this pictorial evidence would ensure that the message is more successfully transmitted.

Governments should also begin, if they have not yet done so, to implement strict laws that consider the environment's welfare. For example, the Singapore government has phased out leaded petrol since 1 July 1998 and since 1 March 1999, permissible levels of sulphur in diesel has been reduced from 0.3% to 0.05% by weight. Another example is the Clean Air Act, which is the comprehensive US federal law that regulates emissions from stationary and mobile sources. This law authorises the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to establish National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) to protect public health and the environment. Huge fines or even jail terms should accompany the disobedience of these laws.

Education is also a crucial partner in protecting the environment. If we were to educate the population from a young age about the importance of protecting the environment, it would have a lasting impact on their mindset. Instilling the right environmental values from birth would mean a higher chance that such values would be carried with them throughout their lives. In this way, it can also be a form of insurance for the environment and hence the fate of the planet.

In conclusion, even though protecting the planet can be done through all the ways mentioned above, I believe the key factor lies in ensuring people all over the world have the mindset that protecting the planet is everyone's responsibility. Keeping that in mind, we should also show it through our actions. Only with this in place, can we then confidently say that the planet is being protected.

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