Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Life and rebirth


Much is said about the 3 "R's" (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle). Many people alarm us with bombastic news saying that if we don't do something NOW, our children will suffer horrible lives in a future that grows darker after each newspaper that is thrown to the garbage bin and not recycled.

And they are right.

Brazil is a developing country, one of the richest countries in the world. As a consequence of uncontrolled growth, we have uncontrolled consumption of goods and resources... and we don't worry so much about the future of all the garbage that we generate.

Reduce, reuse, recycle. The solution is simple, isn't it? We have one of the most creative peoples in the world, capable of converting almost anything into money. Nowadays, only about 2% of our garbage is recycled... but that which we recycle, we transform in profit. For the past five years, Brazil has been the leader in aluminium recycling, with over 96% of the available material actually transformed in $$$.

But is that all?

Take a moment to think about it.

5

4

3

2

1

Ok, by now you have an opinion about these topics, and may have considered for a moment how you could participate. That's good. But that's not the issue anymore.

Let me share what I believe will happen in the long term; it's simple, really: I believe that nature will find a way. It's in our power to be a part of that or not. To live on breathing the blue air that gives our planet its true colour (did you know that? Yes, air is actually blue). To eat and not to worry about cancers (in the plural). To go to the beach and have a real salty bath, knowing that the water is clean.

Or we can simply be a future memory of people that didn't do the right thing when they could. Yes, NOW we are part of the problem. But as we realise that, we have the choice to become part of the solution. Part of a future when we will be able to look back and laugh at the mistakes we had once made.

As nature renews itself, so can we. For us, is a matter of choosing.

Which path will you take?



(If you are a pessimist, stop watching at 5 minutes. If you believe, as I do, in choosing change to make ourselves better, keep watching, and enjoy)

Live long and prosper. ;-)