No man is an island,
Entire of itself
Every man is a piece of a continent
A part of the main,
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less,
As well as a promontory were,
As well as a manor of thy friends.
Or of thine own were:
Any man's death diminishes me,
Because I am involved in mankind
And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls,
It tolls for thee.
- John Donne.
In the age of humans, the Anthropocene, we are facing some serious problems.
Climate change, decreasing biodiversity, pollution, to name a few.
Every day, we are bombarded with statistics and facts; 159 million tonnes of ice lost from the Antarctic, according to The Listener, and an estimated three football fields a minute of rain forest lost to palm oil plantations.
However, what the papers and the news don't tell you is that it's not all doom and gloom, that there is a global movement. World leader conferences on climate change in Paris, the USA pledging to cut carbon emissions by 40% compared to 1990 levels by 2030. My own NZ moving towards producing even more renewable energy.
As wonderful as all this action from world leaders is, it is only one part of the of the solution. What makes me even more excited, and what I believe is even more wonderful is the changes that I hear about in my own community, as more people are buying electric cars, or open a new community garden, or running a beach clean up, who choose to use paper rather than plastic, upon many other things. Who change the world through their simple everyday acts of thoughtfulness.
Because of these people in my community, my friends who are as like-minded as I am,
I never need to ask for whom the bells toll,
I know they toll for you and me.
