“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

The next millennium for life on earth – or elsewhere?

We love and appreciate the beauty of our wildlife and indigenous vegetation but we see that our planet is swiftly turning into a hostile environment – where do we, or they, relocate to – Mars? Venus?

Let us take a very quick look at author Holmes Rolston’s ;  ‘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’ (Stoermer & Crutzen). The consequences are disturbing for those that love in particular the Oryx (above), Serengeti (pic below) the Ngorongoro Crater and the Great Lakes in East Africa, to mention a few.  Although I agree with some of his statements and disagree with others, he writes about ‘Humans as Earthlings; Unique Species on a Unique Planet’ and Joe Miller’s poem (opening quote) as a screen saver, together that formed the foundation of our chat today:

“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 shift from the here and now, to the sustainability of our environment.  Just yesterday I met a Global tourist 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 in 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…”

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 that reduce the impact on landfill sites. We plan to collate it into a blog, maybe even a couple of blogs and will let you know when it is published. We’re all fellow residents who share our concerns regarding this beautiful planet of ours, so we can learn from each other and use it for the greater good of all species of life which flourish on our planet.

If you care about earth’s sustainability, please let us have your opinions, ideas/tips for waste minimization and recycling at: roadtosheq.com. SHERQ Compliance is also able to assist your company with its waste management programme, so give us a call on +27 (0)83 386 4633