Earth Day 2013

Earth Day takes place every year on 22 April, which makes it...

oh well, today.

Well done for planning, dude.

After couple of years embracing sustainability with my heart and body - applying in my private life some principles supposedly sustainable - i have placed Earth Day on the same level as the Earth Hour, the Intertional Women Day and the World Water Day. I might not fully agree with some of these dedicated days (i do not understand for instance why 8 March should be the only day when gender equality, women health, education and so many other topics are addressed), but I do care.

To me, in these days lays the hope that important questions, relevant to the future of our planet and to mankind, are addressed publicly and broadly. On these days, people get informed, documentaries are broadcasted, debates are held. In Denmark, Earth Day was the occasion for schools to organize workshops for the little ones so they learn about the planet, its water, its resources, food, or waste. Drawing trees on recycled paper to address the natural limitations of our world. In Sweden there were demonstrations on climate change, to gather citizens and politicians on the next square and exchange constructive ideas.

Even though these topics hold in their core great amounts of inequalities and injustice, I associate these open discussion days with democracy, hope, common future.

 

Am i demanding, or too optimistic? possibly both, I guess. I just tend to believe hard that one way to support change is education. Call it even "knowledge" if you wish, even "information".

 

You might disagree with my approach; you might have another opinion than your neighbour; you might have your own idea or way on how to improve the world. Fair enough. I still believe however that if you share this idea with your neighbour, he might change his mind, you might reach a compromise, or you might teach one another new ways to progress.

 

Now: Remember an earlier post regarding Car Free Day 2013 in the region? On 13 February, I actually wrote the following:

"I focused on the article over my breakfast tea, nodding with interest, until I realized that this day was actually...today. Well done for planning, dude". 

No joke, I actually use today the exact same words as I used a few months ago. How cynical is this.

 

I realized it was Earth Day 2013 thanks to the lovely Google Doodle of the Day, showing a little land evolving day and night, season after season. By clicking I could make the Doodle rain, I could fix the flower, and I even grew a tree. Just wonderful to start the day with. Without it another day would have passed and I would have looked at the Sheik Zayed Road from my distant 28th floor without any other consideration than the usual one on noise and traffic.

Pics: Google Doodles of the day

 You see my point here: without a doodle I would have missed the day. Without internet and social media (Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn in my case) I would have forgotten and concentrated my time on my little life instead of focusing on the big picture. I poke myself, as much as I regret the lack of visibility here. I haven't found a trace in the national newspapers, which have been developping papers on the earthquake risks, the current weather conditions (rain, just to mention it) and the new Lamborghini Aventador that the UAE police is now using to patrol.

 

Maybe I should have been more proactive and start communicate about it earlier, long enough to actually trigger reactions, and who knows, implement projects. It could have been something good for the community, and my sustainable spirit would not have hurt either.

 

I have so many memories on constructive discussions while in Scandinavia: why don't we organize a drawing competition in the nearest school? why don't we plant trees to offset carbon emissions, and use this event as an educational mean for the community to understand and respect their environment? Why don't we engage in a public debate to identify the most suitable way to address food waste? Why don't we organize a painting workshop to decorate bikes and promote means of transportation?

 

Too many "why", not enough "let's do it", and inexisting "because" to justify my lack of (re)action.

 

By the way, when i posted "it's Earth Day 2013, is there anything going on on your side?", i got no reply at all. Maybe playing with the Doodle was the most constructive aspect of the day after all.

 

 Happy Earth Day 2013.

 

EDIT 23/04: a friend corrected my mistake via Twitter by forwarding me the following news from the Dubai City Guide website:

"Emirates Green Building Council (EmiratesGBC), an independent forum aimed at conserving the environment by strengthening and promoting green building practices in the UAE, marked Earth Day with a screening of the documentary ‘Wild Ocean 3D’ that highlighted the importance of sustainable development"

Let's hope that future Earth Days and other international célébrations related to the protection of our planet will be broadly advertized to increase public awareness as well as individual/political/corporate commitments. 



Writing is an interesting mental process

One of the assignments I was asked to work on, as part of a job interview, is to write on sustainability, disregarding the final format of my essay. I was even given free hands on topic and size, something anyone would hope for to let creativity and critical sense flow. Do I want to prepare a newsletter, or a short novel? a translation work or a critical review of an existing project? I am free.

I left the meeting with sparkles in my eyes and in my brain, so happy I had finally met people that could inspire me that much  in a one-hour-long meeting only. I sat on a plane, mentally preparing a list of topics i could address. I thought it would take two weeks to sit down and think, to wander around in a familiar urban environment with a notebook in my hand, a pen in the other, and to finally express myself.

These two weeks of creativity however changed into three continuous weeks of worries, prayers and sorrow, and sustainability was forgotten to leave its core place to another important thing in life: family. I have lost my sister, I have lost a piece of my heart with it. I have burried creativity along with many emotions to give room to feelings i did not know, allowing me to face a reality that i had possibly denied, head up.

I have lacked sleep, I have pushed myself to the edge where sleeping equals resting (which was not as frequent as I had hoped). I have been reading, a lot, to reach this limit, I have left the light on long.

It's been a month now, and things have slowly started to change. I do sleep, and I do rest. I read because I want to, not because I feel like denying reality. The biggest change is that I manage to wake up at night, with some writing ideas that i forget of course in the morning. But I think, I look, I read, I observe, I register information.

I am back on track.