News24 User: Abdullah Saeed writes:
On Saturday November 26, I participated in some of the
COP 17 alternative events also known as the People’s Space at the Howard
College campus of the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
The different activists from around the globe presented
some real eye opening issues affecting animals, birds, humans and the
environment caused by individual and corporate business greed and selfishness.
The one that really caught my attention was a
presentation on the Canadian oil sands project. It is one of the most costly,
damaging and ruthless methods of producing oil, the largest industrial project
in human history and likely, also the most destructive. The tar sands mining
procedure releases at least three times the CO2 emissions of regular oil
production and is slated to become the single largest industrial contributor in
North America to climate change.
In this regard we need to educate our young generation
about environmental degradation of climate change. We need to reinforce the
values of re-use, reduce, recycle and conserve in them.
As ordinary citizens let’s not wait or rely on
governments, global leaders or conferences to make a difference. It’s time for
a change in our own approach towards the environment. Let’s walk the talk and
focus on the small and practical things we can all do every day to protect the
environment. Buy environmentally-friendly products, eat less meat, stop eating
unsustainably-caught seafood, start an organic vegetable patch, drive vehicles
responsibly, save paper, water and electricity and donate towards conservation
projects.
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