It's 2019 - Let's Save the World

That's right. It's the second day of the new year and I'm jumping straight in to the nitty-gritty. This year, we can really fight the battle, and make it the year that we kick-ass on saving the environment.

Extinction Rebellion Protest, Truro

Some of you may have heard about the large climate change protests in London a couple of months ago, by an organisation called Extinction Rebellion. I witnessed a replica peaceful protest in the middle of Truro, where protesters warned us that we may only have twelve years until the impacts of climate change become completely irreversible.

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the global temperature is expected to rise above 1.5 degrees by 2030, which could cause detrimental damage to the world as we know it.

Sir David Attenborough has said it himself; we are on the brink of a global collapse, due to the actions of our people. It is likely that we will start to see a mass decline in various wildlife and civilisations; the future of our natural world is in our hands.

Thankfully, people are becoming more aware of the changes that need to take place to prevent this global disaster. Recycling is on the rise and the awareness of using less plastic and harmful chemical products is beginning to spread.

Awareness is the first step in contributing to a big change, but now it's time to really take action.

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Following the hubbub of the Extinction Rebellion protests, I created a story-board of potential news headlines over the next twelve years. This is a preview into what our world may become if we do not start improving the environmental quality of our day-to-day-lives. Twelve years is not a long time, and if we don't act now, it is not beyond the realms of possibility that we will experience news coverage that looks something like this:

The Next Twelve Years

After researching what might happen if we do not cut down on our carbon footprint, reduce our plastic waste and improve our use of green energy, I learnt the horrifying truth about how this could affect our planet.

Each event in this potential timeline is merely based on the things that we need to change, giving just a taste into what could happen if we sit back and do nothing.

Extreme weather, floods, droughts, extinction, food shortage - chaos.

Though this is, (and I cannot emphasise enough) a completely hypothetical reality, I wouldn't say that a future along these lines is at all impossible.

Granted, don't go taking my timeline as a gospel prediction, but use it to consider how quickly and drastically the world we live in could change because of our actions. That means, we need to take the advise given to us by organisations such as the IPCC and Extinction Rebellion, and really start to change how wasteful we are for the sake of our planet.

I roughly calculated my Ecological Footprint through EarthDay.org, and am shocked by the results:

EarthDay.org Ecological Footprint Results

Looks like I have a lot of work to do! So, to reduce the amount of metaphorical Earths we would need if we all lived as I do, I will be taking some steps to improve the eco-friendly-ness of my lifestyle.

So far, I have started buying fresh fruit and veg from the farm shop, which supports local business as well as reduces the amount of plastic packaged food I consume. I have also switched to vegan and eco-friendly beauty product brands such as E.L.F, Odylique and Faith in Nature.

My next aim is to limit my contribution to public transport fuels, as anywhere I need to go is in walking distance. I also want to increase the use of green cleaning products used within the household.

Understandably, eco-friendly living can be an expensive adjustment to make, and definitely one that needs researching. However, if we all contribute to this sector of society, the prices will likely drop as these products become the norm.

Some people believe that one person is not enough to make a difference to the entire world, but I don't think that's true. One person here, plus one person there, and a whole bunch of one person's everywhere, will eventually become enough to create a worldwide impact.

Even if you don't notice the changes you are making in your lifetime, at least try to clear your environmental conscience for the sake of the next generation.

For the sake of the planet, go green, and fight climate change.

(If not because I say so, then at least for David Attenborough - that guy knows what he's talking about.)