Our choices matter - here's what we all need to do to save our planet
Its all about choices - but to make informed choices we all need to know the facts and understand the drivers. In many countries people are just struggling to stay alive and feed their families. In some countries people dont have many choices. So how do we start here in New Zealand?
There are just three major changes that we need to put in place now if we want to secure an enriched, healthy, safe future for our children and grandchildren as well as a future for the other species we share this planet with:
- Repair the damage
- Stop doing any more damage
- Reduce our global population non cohersively
- Start talking about the population issue!
- Get active and get vocal!
There are just three major changes that we need to put in place now if we want to secure an enriched, healthy, safe future for our children and grandchildren as well as a future for the other species we share this planet with:
- Repair the damage
- Stop doing any more damage
- Reduce our global population non cohersively
- Start talking about the population issue!
- Get active and get vocal!
Repair the damage
Protect and restore our ecosystems
Our biosphere is made up of a myriad of complex ecosystems. These ecosystems are home to a diverse range of plant and animal life which have evolved over billiions of years. These balanced natural systems are necessary to ensure that the vital processes which support life on our planet are carried out. If this balance is affected it impacts on all living things - inlcuding us. Healthy natural ecosystems perform important services to us but we need to look after them if they are to look after us. Protecting and restoring our ecosystems is vital to our futures.
You can help restore the balance by:
- Joining local community planting efforts and replant damaged ecosystems
- Starting your own planting group
- Getting involved with other conservation initiatives locally or globally
Links to help you get started
NZ Department of Conservation - Getting Involved
Our biosphere is made up of a myriad of complex ecosystems. These ecosystems are home to a diverse range of plant and animal life which have evolved over billiions of years. These balanced natural systems are necessary to ensure that the vital processes which support life on our planet are carried out. If this balance is affected it impacts on all living things - inlcuding us. Healthy natural ecosystems perform important services to us but we need to look after them if they are to look after us. Protecting and restoring our ecosystems is vital to our futures.
You can help restore the balance by:
- Joining local community planting efforts and replant damaged ecosystems
- Starting your own planting group
- Getting involved with other conservation initiatives locally or globally
Links to help you get started
NZ Department of Conservation - Getting Involved
Stop doing any more damage
There are many ecosystems around the world which are under threat. Increasing acidification of the seas through burning of fossil fuels, melting of the icecaps driven by climate change, logging of pristine rainforests for more agricultural land or firewood, increasing spread of deserts through removal of vegetation - the list goes on. Take a stand and support groups which stop ongoing destruction of our vital ecosystems.
Links to help you get started
- For the forests
- For the seas
- For climate change
- For clean energy
Embrace the Green Energy Revolution!
We don't need to be dependant on using finite fossil fuels - oil, coal or natural gas. These supplies are already getting harder to find and as a result the methods used to mine them will only become increasingly hazardous for the environment.
There are other options that are clean, free and limitless - solar, wind and geothermal energys. The costs of installation of many of these green energys however can be prohibitive. Reducing the costs and creating incentives for people to use them is vital to ensure these new technologies are embraced worldwide. Governments need to start actively supporting green energy initiatives at home here in NZ and worldwide. Make your choice for green energy heard and support local initiatives.
Take Action
November 2013
Sign the Petition to stop Oil Drilling in NZ waters!
Watch the video - No deep sea oil drilling in NZ - ALTERNATIVES NOW!
Links to help you get started
- For the forests
- For the seas
- For climate change
- For clean energy
Embrace the Green Energy Revolution!
We don't need to be dependant on using finite fossil fuels - oil, coal or natural gas. These supplies are already getting harder to find and as a result the methods used to mine them will only become increasingly hazardous for the environment.
There are other options that are clean, free and limitless - solar, wind and geothermal energys. The costs of installation of many of these green energys however can be prohibitive. Reducing the costs and creating incentives for people to use them is vital to ensure these new technologies are embraced worldwide. Governments need to start actively supporting green energy initiatives at home here in NZ and worldwide. Make your choice for green energy heard and support local initiatives.
Take Action
November 2013
Sign the Petition to stop Oil Drilling in NZ waters!
Watch the video - No deep sea oil drilling in NZ - ALTERNATIVES NOW!
Reduce our population non-cohersively
Make the choice for Smaller Families
Family planning - you make the choice! New Zealand has one of the highest teenage pregnancy rates in the OECD. In 1997 the age-specific pregnancy rate for women 15-19 years of age was 33/1,000 for non-Maori and
94/1,000 for Maori (Dickson et al. 2000). Among developed countries, only the United States records a higher statistic (MSD- NZ). At present we are not doing enough to stop this cycle occuring - we have a responsibility to our future generations to address this issue urgently.
In many developing countries however the situation is very different - contraception is simply not available. Combined with poverty, lack of education and few rights for woman, escalating population growth means severe malnutrition, disease and conflict over resources is a never ending cycle (read more).
Supporting groups that help supply free contraceptives and education is a step forward in the right direction.
Stop at two pledge! Unless we all do something, there are going to be another 2.4 billion people on the planet by 2050. Having a smaller family - just one or two children instead of three or more - helps to reverse population growth. And by reversing population growth, we'd be taking another green step towards environmental survival for all.
Family planning - you make the choice! New Zealand has one of the highest teenage pregnancy rates in the OECD. In 1997 the age-specific pregnancy rate for women 15-19 years of age was 33/1,000 for non-Maori and
94/1,000 for Maori (Dickson et al. 2000). Among developed countries, only the United States records a higher statistic (MSD- NZ). At present we are not doing enough to stop this cycle occuring - we have a responsibility to our future generations to address this issue urgently.
In many developing countries however the situation is very different - contraception is simply not available. Combined with poverty, lack of education and few rights for woman, escalating population growth means severe malnutrition, disease and conflict over resources is a never ending cycle (read more).
Supporting groups that help supply free contraceptives and education is a step forward in the right direction.
Stop at two pledge! Unless we all do something, there are going to be another 2.4 billion people on the planet by 2050. Having a smaller family - just one or two children instead of three or more - helps to reverse population growth. And by reversing population growth, we'd be taking another green step towards environmental survival for all.
Start Talking About the Population Issue!
Spread the word. The more people who talk about the population issue the sooner it will become main stream thinking. The main point to make is we all want to increase our worldwide standard of living - reduce poverty, disease, malnutrition and conflict over resources, and increase worldwide education and environmental health.
Maintaining a balanced population is not about taking away peoples rights. Its ensuring that everyone is assured the most basic rights for their families - space for our future children to grow up in without threat of war, and access to food, water, education and a good standard of living for all.
Its about making sensible choices which ensure our children and our environment are ensured a safe, healthy and sustainable future.
Maintaining a balanced population is not about taking away peoples rights. Its ensuring that everyone is assured the most basic rights for their families - space for our future children to grow up in without threat of war, and access to food, water, education and a good standard of living for all.
Its about making sensible choices which ensure our children and our environment are ensured a safe, healthy and sustainable future.
Get active and get vocal!
We need a global revolution to make the changes necessary to ensure we all have a future on this planet. This will require us all to rally together to ensure policies are put in place to protect our planets finite resources and the environment which provides us with vital ecosystem services is future proofed.
Links and actions are in the process of being uploaded.
Links and actions are in the process of being uploaded.