FROM BURN TO BARN: CARING FOR EARTH

Three are the wisdom acquisition methods: one is via inspiration which is the noblest; secondly is via experience which regrettably is the most bitterest; thirdly, finally and certainly not the least is via imitation which undeniably is the easiest.

We are all in the gutter, however some of us are looking at the galaxies of stars. The more deeper the night, the more brighter the stars. There is nothing so powerful as the naked truth and often nothing so strange.

Admittedly: Anna Thompson decided to erect her dream home out of recycled materials; critics, naysayers and neighbours myopically and in a raw-baked manner viewed it as a far-fetched pipedream.

Factually speaking: two years later, her eco-friendly home is history in the making and fodder for consumption by every Tom, Dick and Harry drawn from all the four cardinal points. In Revelation 11:18, does it not dawn upon me and you that the ALMIGHTY LORD GOD shall destroy all those who destroy the earth?

Does it not dawn upon me and you that Jesus Christ conserved the environment and nothing was lost in HIS ministry courtesy of Matthew 14:20; Mark 6:43; Luke 9:17 and John 6:12? Does it not dawn upon me that over 40 million tonnes of food are wasted annually in the USA?

This is a clarion call to action upon squandered potentials. May we be educated, empowered, entertained, equipped, exposed, informed, inspired, thought provoked and transformed courtesy of this feature on environmental conservation.

The United Nations Environmental Programme reports that over 1.1 million people in Africa die of air pollution; making it the second highest causative agent of death after Non-communicable ailments being the first. The UNEP further found out that over 697,000 people die of pollution, the lion’s share of them being caused by indoor cooking stoves.

The most polluted cities globally are however not limited to Kuching in Malaysia at Air Quality Index (AQI) 161; Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia at AQI 160; Dhaka in Bangladesh at AQI 153; Jakarta in Indonesia at AQI 139; the United Arab Emirates at AQI 137; Doha in Qatar at AQI 132; Beijing in China at AQI 127; Kuwait City in Kuwait at AQI 116; New Delhi in India at AQI 111 and Birmingham in the United Kingdom at AQI 108.

The least polluted cities globally are however not limited to Taipei at AQI 0; Salt Lake City at AQI 12; San Francisco at AQI 12; Oslo in Norway at AQI 15; Canberra at Melbourne in Australia at AQI 16; Denver at AQI 16; Moscow in Russia at AQI 17; Kaohsiung at AQI 19 and Helsinki in Finland at AQI 20.
The largest emitters globally are China, the USA and the European Union at 23%, 19% and 13% respectively.

In 2022, governments spent about shs.26.6 trillion only on environmentally hazardous substances across agriculture, fishery, forestry and fossil fuels; with the governments contributing to 82% of shs.31.3 trillion only while the private entities contributing to 18% (Ksh. 5.4 billion only).

Private nature-negative finance flows amount to shs.782 trillion only annually and, the seven industries channelling most of the negative financial flows are: construction, electric utilities, food, gas, oil, real estate and tobacco. This represents 16% of the overall investment flows in the economy but 43% of nature-negative flows associated with the destruction of forests, wetlands and other natural habitats.

According to the experts, the world is currently heading towards a catastrophic two degrees Celsius increase in temperatures courtesy of climate change coupled with greenhouse gases. Fossil fuels are ever diminishing while global energy demand is expected to have increased by 50% in 2030.
Production of waste drastically soars as the world’s population grows profusely.

Thanks to the UNEP Food Wastes’ Index 2024:

Over shs.132.4 trillion only worth of food is wasted annually.
1.4 billion hectares of land ( 28% of the global agricultural verdant geographical lands) are utilized annually to produce foods that are regrettably lost and wasted.

Globally fruits and vegetables are the highest discarded foods at 62%; wheat products at 16%; meat and dairy products at 11%.
Food wastes are responsible for 8-10% of greenhouse gas emissions.
High food wastage in Homa Bay, Taita Taveta, Mombasa and Kiambu Counties are 40, 55, 80 and 99 kilogrammes annually respectively.

People Proposition: Sweden has created and implemented a letter-inclusive system for everyone.
From infancy, Swedish kids are trained in environmental conservation.

There is a national holiday where children gather, pick litter and clean their surroundings.
Teachers undergo special training to engage children in practical activities; for instance, making their papers or implementing waste policies in schools.

Swedish citizens are supplied with attractive incentives when they recycle.

Profit Proposition: not only does Sweden ensure that there is a reduction of costs through the elimination of high costs of fossil fuel but also generates annual revenues of over 100 million US Dollars for recycling imported wastes.
Sweden has accessible, convenient and strategically positioned recycling stations that are found 300 metres from any residential area.

Over 2.2 million tonnes annually of carbon dioxide emissions have been dwindled in Sweden.
Carbon emissions and greenhouse gas emissions have been reduced by 34% and 76% respectively.

Value Proposition: enabling a cleaner environment and provision of low-cost energy to over one million homes.
Ireland, Italy, Norway and the United Kingdom are willing to pay 43 US Dollars for tonnes of waste that Sweden imports.
Pocket friendliness, social responsibilities and technology are but are not limited to leaves worth emulation from Sweden.

Umuganda is a mandatory national holiday held in Rwanda every last Saturday of the month geared towards environmental conservation; led by His Excellency President Paul Kagame teaming up with his family. It is done from 08:00 A.M. to 11:00 A.M.

Let us eschew the construction of residential properties in riparian reserves.
Industries should produce eco-friendly packages and products.
Conserve water by gathering it in a basin and using it to clean utensils rather than running water from the tap.
Switch off unused electric appliances, devices and switches.
Plant trees.
In short distances, walk.

Let everyone sweep in front of his or her door and the whole world shall be clean.

Reverberating the late 2004 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Professor Wangari Muta Maathai,” Nature is unforgiving. If we do not obey nature; nature shall destroy us.”

If a man hastily chooses a way of life that he must later regret, history properly considers him unwise.
In their wisdom, mice and rats never made mousetraps; in their folly: men and women made atomic bombs.

Written by Philosopher Daniel Masese

Obwoge Joseph

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