Demonstrating wisdom lacking in our political leaders, six-year-old Ruby the Climate Kid is determined to save the planet, with our help.
WHEN I THINK about our planet and wildlife, I get upset, because I know that the planet is sick and this means that animals are in danger of running out of food and dying.
Even worse, I know that we (human beings) are the reason this planet is so sick and we can make it better but we aren’t doing anything.
Nobody is listening to the people who know how to take care of our planet.
I have noticed that many grown-ups don’t seem to care or notice what is happening to our planet but I think maybe they don’t understand how they can help, or maybe they don’t understand the science, because I see them always throwing rubbish everywhere, smoking, using cars and trucks and not recycling.
David Suzuki is a really smart man and he says that because of all of the CO2, CH4 and N2O we have been pushing up into the atmosphere by using cars, buses, factories and burning coal we have caused a hole in the ozone [layer], which lets the sun's rays through and when they try to bounce back out of the atmosphere, the blanket of pollution keeps them in and heats the planet. When the planet heats, the environment changes and this means that the homes of wildlife can be ruined.
One of my heroes, Sir David Attenborough, says that every time there is an extinction of an animal because of climate change, there is a consequence. He has taught me that we are all reliant on one another and we need to act quickly on climate change.
Did you know that in the last ten years there have been ten animals declared extinct? And five of those animals have been declared extinct since I was born.
One of these animals, the West African Black Rhino, has been listed as critically endangered in 2008 but scientists have failed to locate any sign of it in Cameroon since 2006, so it is unofficially declared extinct.
When I found out that I would never be able to see a West African Black Rhino I was very upset and angry because grown-ups have made decisions that are wrong, and they are hurting our planet and all the wildlife and people living here.
When I get upset about our planet and think about the wildlife, I ask my Mum why it's not fixed yet. My Mum says that sometimes grown-ups make bad decisions and get it wrong, especially grown-ups in government. But she asked me what I would do if I were a grown up and I told her that I would save the planet. My Mum said I didn’t have to wait to be a grown up — she said I could do it now and I am only six.
So I am going to save the planet by doing things that we all can, and I am going to talk and write about my ideas. And maybe people can give me new ideas and we can all work together and not wait for the bosses of Australia to save the planet — we can do it ourselves.
- Recycle paper products
- Recycle/repurpose glass products
- Recycle metal and plastics
- Recycle/repurpose organic material
- Use less electricity — choose solar or wind power
- Walk or use public transport
- Buy thoughtfully
We can also make our homes smarter and, instead of using coal, which is very bad for the planet, we can use wind and sun energy to power our homes — even in cities.
The most important thing I have learnt is that we need to grow more trees and plants and stop destroying the ones we have. Did you know more than 100 million trees are destroyed each year to make junk mail?
The answer to saving the planet is trees and plants — and my Mum says it always has been. I am Aboriginal and I was taught that plants and trees care for us if we care for them, and when you talk to a plant, it eats your carbon dioxide and gives you oxygen and some plants give you food or healing. We need more plants to eat all of the carbon dioxide from people and stop it from going up into the atmosphere.
If you would like to join me and save the planet, I will send you a seed to get started. We can save the planet together, one plant at a time.
Ruby the Climate Kid shares her thoughts on YouTube and Facebook and you can follow her on Twitter @theclimatekid.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Australia License
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