The Future can be Greener

A Parallel world

Often, I wonder how different our world would have been if we had not discovered fossil energy or rather the use of it. Putting my assumption into a clearer perspective, I believe humanity would have found another means to powering up our planet and, perhaps the less talked about global problems might have been the more prominent.

In a world of no fossil fuel, to a great deal of extent, the possibility of climate change happening might not be overruled, but the pace of the change would have been more proportional to the natural adaptive capability of not just humanity but the whole planet’s ecosystem.  The gains of not having to deal with the threats of the abrupt change in climatic conditions would probably have saved the world a lot in terms of financial commitment and time. These resources might have been channeled to solving other fundamental problems facing humanity. Perhaps, issues like poverty and global inequality would have worn a different outlook with the level of commitment given to the almighty climate change. Perspectives of a probable parallel world!

Let the sleeping dog lie

The discovery of fossil fuel has been a landmark breakthrough of all time. It launched humanity from the dark age to a more advanced era where almost anything is possible with the power of fossil energy. However, looking back through history, there seem to be more woes emanating from the use of fossil energy. Perhaps, letting the sleeping dog “fossil energy” lie underneath the earth where it naturally belongs would have been the best-avoided discovery for humanity after all.  Every use of this earthen resource has caused more problems than the gains and the problems are such that the impact will triple the average lifespan of man.

The most talked-about the nemesis of fossil energy has been global warming, while a lot of other

accompanying problems are gradually making themselves more obvious now, It is no longer strange to come across news about the death of fishes and other marine mammals from ingesting the remnants of one of the by-products of fossil energy-Plastic. The situation has reached an extent that plastics are gradually disrupting ocean food web and could probably in the nearest future replace the beautiful coral reefs that are fast disappearing too.

What goes around comes around

Plastics have taken over the waste landscape of our dear planet and they are littering beyond the dumpsites. They have found their ways into the oceans and other fragile ecosystems and they are becoming more than a clog in the wheels of preserving the planet’s livability.  It might have been way better if humans were the only species to suffer the consequences of ever discovering fossil fuel from which plastics come from, unfortunately, many innocent lifeforms have become more endangered than humans. Plastics do not just go away like every other decomposable material; they indeed stand the test of time and it takes more than a lifetime to see them disintegrate out of existence. Tiny microplastics from the disintegration process have found their way into the marine food web and really who can blame the fishes from swallowing some brightly colored sediments that look like seaweeds (You only need to be a fish to know how it feels to be attracted to such). Fishes are dying out from consuming plastics; birds have even taken up a new way of scavenging for food in our trash sites and that is where they consume a lot of plastics. Humans are not left out,  we stay right on top of the food chain, so we consume those plastics when we eat up fishes and the likes- Invariably, what goes around comes around.

But what about Recycling?

As green as recycling sounds, it still does not guarantee a way out of the plastic menacing we are facing today. Not every part of plastic wastes eventually makes it to the final phase of getting recycled, as a  greater proportion still ends up unrecyclable. There are the good sides to the introduction of recycling; It has made wastes usable and the resulting impact is applaudable. However, recycling is fast becoming the convenient narrative for going green, but the reality is, the act of preserving the ecological integrity of our planet takes more than recycling.

Conclusively

Learning from the past is a crucial part in the making of another history. Given that man is naturally inquisitive, It was never an error to have discovered fossil energy in the first place, but having witnessed the impact and the possible associated problems, it is time to set the right footprints in the history of mankind.

Ending the use of fossil fuel might not happen sooner, but it is inevitable. In as much as it seems that the-powers-that-be won’t make the changes happen so fast, individually we can make green choices and it starts with small actions and ultimately, individual actions can become the propelling force needed to forge a collective effort to move humanity forward to a greener future.

Sincerely yours Earthly.