We all love our children very much.  We have and would continue to sacrifice a lot in order to give them the best.  But in doing so, are we accelerating the damage done to our environment?  Do we wish for our children to inherit a warm planet plagued with polluted air and water?

Southern Malaysia experienced very heavy rainfall around Christmas last year.  The rain caused flooding in many parts of Johore, Malacca and Pahang and Tzu Chi volunteers from as far as Sabah joined the rescue teams in helping the flood victims. Volunteers from Singapore, due to the island’s geographical closeness to Johore, also joined the rescue operation.

I joined one of the Tzu Chi group in distributing food to the victims in Rompin, Pahang.  On our way back in the evening after the distribution, we were told that the flood in Malacca had subsided and that we could help clear the streets the next day.

Whilst clearing the streets, I was astonished by the amount of rubbish accumulated in the drains and on the streets.  Wood and tree branches, packing materials such as plastic bags, containers and paper cartons blocked up the drains, disallowing the rain water to flow through freely. It was obvious that the massive floods were probably a consequence of all these garbage.  Yet who else can we blame but ourselves for dirtying our environment.

Of equal concern is the way we are destroying the very planet which sustains us.  We waste precious resources and kill trees for paper and packing materials.  In doing so, we increase the amount of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere.  For the last 600,000 years, the carbon dioxide in our atmosphere has been maintained below 300 parts per million (ppm).  This has increased to 380 ppm in the last 50 years.  For this reason, sunlight entering the earth’s atmosphere is not sufficiently reflected out, resulting in heat from the sun’s rays being trapped in our atmosphere.  This has caused the ambient temperature to rise and is known as global warming.

Global warming has caused ice caps in the north and south poles to melt at an incredible rate, endangering the survival of polar bears which are experiencing difficulty in finding land area to rest.  The melting of ice caps has also led to an increase in sea water levels, thus reducing the coastal line.  As a result of rising sea levels, low lying areas are experiencing more floods whenever it rains.  Some of the lower lying areas are already disappearing.

Global warming is also reducing the amount of snow in higher altitudes.  About 40% of the world’s population rely on water from molten snow from the mountains.  Snow from the Himalayas forms the upstream of many rivers passing through China, India and Pakistan and these rivers are important for agriculture and daily living.  The European countries rely on water from the Alps and the Rocky Mountains play a similar role to many parts of America.  It is hard and indeed scary to imagine a future with insufficient snow. 

For the last few months, Singapore and Malaysia, unlike Australia, have enjoyed frequent rainfalls. This unusual weather could easily go in reverse.  Imagine then, what it would be like if we were to experience a long drought after that?

To help in reducing the growth rate of carbon dioxide that causes global warming, each and every one of us has an obligation to do his or her part in saving this planet.  In Tzu Chi, we are encouraged to exercise 5 “R”s as follow:

1. REFUSE the use of materials that are not friendly to environment
2. REDUCE wastage
3. RECYCLE whatever materials that can be reprocessed
4. REPAIR whatever we can to prolong its life expectancy
5. REUSE whatever we can

I work in a golf course.  After joining Tzu Chi, I have tried to practise the 5 “R”s mentioned above and have tried to be environmentally friendly by recycling 200,000 mineral water bottles per annum and adding 4,000 plants a year to the golf course during the monsoon season.  To date, more than 30,000 plants have been added.  More lakes have also been built to hold water, in case of a drought, and the golf course has increased this holding capacity by 300,000 cubic meters.  Dried wood from the trees around the golf course is recovered and either reused in the golf course or sold as firewood for pizza ovens.  Tree trunks that are dead are sold to saw mill for better use.  All proceeds from our efforts are donated to Tzu Chi for charity and to help the poor.

Controlling our diets may be another way of saving the environment.  Meat has become a staple in our daily meals – we probably consume more meat now than we did when we were younger.  This increase in meat consumption creates a lucrative market for farmers to rear animals for consumption.  Yet the increase in livestock actually causes more carbon dioxide to be released into our atmosphere in the form of breathing and gases discharged from the animals’ bodies.

Livestock also consume a lot of water and they add to water pollution.  For every kilogram of beef produced, 100,000 litres of water is used in feeding and cleaning the animals.  Water discharged from the animals’ bodies also contributes to water pollution.

Additionally, it is estimated that 16 kg of feed is needed to produce 1kg of beef.  40% of the world’s grains are currently used in feeding such livestock.  If we were to eat less meat, we could probably help in reducing the number of starving people, which presently stands at about 850 million.

In addition to being environmentally friendly, the health benefits of reducing meat consumption are obvious.  I love to eat meat.  About 5 years ago, my doctor discovered that my artillery had a 30% blockage.  After joining Tzu Chi though, I reduced my meat intake by about 70%.  This has not only helped in my digestion but more importantly, it has helped reduce the blockage to 20%.

Heart blockage is an early warning to the possibility of a stroke.  The after effects of a brain operation earlier this year made me realise how terrible it was when the senses are not working normally, and how inconvenient it was to both myself and the people around me.  I do not want to risk this happening again with a stroke.  It is therefore advisable to eat less meat and to take more vegetables.

We all love our children very much.  We have and would continue to sacrifice a lot in order to give them the best.  But in doing so, are we accelerating the damage done to our environment?  Do we wish for our children to inherit a warm planet plagued with polluted air and water?

For the sake of our children, and for the generations after us, let us eat less meat and practise the 5 “R”s in saving our environment. We should leave our planet clean and green to live in.