It’s a shame that we talk and blubber around asking other countries to reduce 
green house gas emissions and to be environmentally friendly when we as a nation are doing nothing in those grounds. Yes, we can plant a few trees, while chop three hundred more trees! Government’s plan to ‘plant a tree for every tree that’s cut’ is just jotted down in a piece of paper while no action is been taken on it.
The roads in the capital are full of garbage.. Chewing gums, suparis, killi... what not? No one is given advice or there is no media campaign to make our roads cleaner.. I had a talk with my friend about it and his reply was ‘Come on.. If I finish eating a supari, I had to keep it in my pocket until I go back home. There is not a single bin on the road..’
He might have a valid point, but still... is it that huge burden for us to carry it back to our home and throw it in the bin. These tiny habits could lead us to a cleaner, tidy and environmental place.
Habits such as to use a recycled bag for shopping instead of getting those plastic bags for each item we buy, to switch of lights and fans or A/C when we leave homes, to use recycled items, to buy our own local produced vegetables and fruits could be minor, but would yield to a greater positive impact on the environment.
The other thing everyone would notice is the amount of vehicles that are in the Maldives. Even though the taxes on motor bikes and cars are doubled the original price, everyone gets away with it by importing as a second hand car or bike.
All guys and girls would follow on the rule ‘to be a great guy or a girl, you need to have a motor bike or to have the latest mobile phone’. But on the reality we as a nation are contributing to the emission of green house gases.
Why can’t we walk or use a bicycle? It’s just a square kilometre.
Yes it’s true... Maldives might be wiped out from the maps of the world in the near future and we have to make the bigger emitters aware of the situation. But for sure, we have to straighten our habits and our life culture as well... Which we never do, so first let us practice it before we preach!
Photo by www.hrclean.org
