“If the earth were only a few feet in diameter and floating a few feet above a field somewhere, people would come from everywhere to marvel at it…”  Joe Miller

 Hi fellow Earthlings,

Do you have a summer home on Mars or Venus?  Not yet, but working on it?

I love wild animals and they have no where else to go!

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Let us take a very quick look at author Holmes Rolston III  A new Environmental Ethics – the next millennium of life on earth.  Apart from his views on the BP Oil Spill, Global Warming, Toxics, Pollutants and Invasive species, he refers to the “Anthropocene Epoch: Managed Earth and End of Nature”.  That is a frightening thought for someone that loves the Oryx (above), Serengeti (pic below) the Ngorongoro Crater and the Great Lakes in East Africa to mention only a few.  Although I agree with some of his statements and disagree with others, in chapter 7 he talks about ‘Humans as Earthlings; Unique Species on a Unique Planet” and I had Joe Miller’s poem (opening quote) as a screen saver, together that formed the foundation of our chat today.

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“Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987 p.43

Do you have children or grandchildren, maybe even great grandchildren?  Once we have children our focus seems to move from the here and now, to the sustainability of it all.  Just yesterday I met a World Traveler who seemed almost fearful that he would not be able to see everything he set out to see.  He was a strong and healthy looking young man, so I could not understand his anxiety, but a couple of questions later I had lifted the lid off his proverbial Pandora’s box and he had difficulty closing it again.  “You might kill all the white lions in Africa before I get to see one, and the Black Rhino and the Leatherback Turtle…I also heard there are only about 350 mountain gorillas left in East Africa because groups are being killed at a time…the Pink River Dolphin on South America is also critically endangered… and I must still get to Hawaii because I believe they have the longest list of critical endangered species…”

I was no longer listening, he had lost me when he said: “YOU might kill…” Logic is, it was simply a manner of speech, but it suddenly felt personal.  As a fellow earth occupant, what am I doing to preserve our planet?  What more can I do to preserve our planet for my grandchildren?  Will they have clean drinking water or will it ONLY be from a desalination plant and if that is the case what will happen to the sea creatures because of the increase in salt content?  Clearly the World Traveler also lifted the lid off my box!

In closing, please go to des@roadtosheq.com  and tell us what you are doing to preserve our planet.  What are you doing to reduce your footprint?  Tell us about your waste minimization and recycling processes to reduce the impact on landfill sites.  We will collate it into a blog, maybe even a couple and will let you know when it is published.  We are all fellow occupants, we can learn from each other and use it for the greater good of all occupants, the mountain gorillas and pink river dolphins included.

If you care about the sustainability of life on earth the way we know it, please leave your opinion, ideas and tips for waste minimization and recycling at roadtosheq.com

We can also assist your company with its waste management program, give us a call on +27(0)833864633