Environment

Problems and solutions for repairing and sustaining the environment.

You'd think it would be obvious that if you change one thing on the planet, even a small thing, and it will in some way affect everything else. Most people don't see or understand this, at least on a level that matters. Rather than give a long winded explanation of what is happening to our environment, I'll summarize: When you destroy trees, you remove not just a small part of the planet's ecosystem, you remove a MAJOR part of it. What is an ecosystem? . . . Basically a system of life. I'm not just talking about bugs and birds. We are all part of Earth's system, which includes the air we breathe, food we eat and water we drink.

One of the most critical part of that ecosystem is trees. Trees are vital to the processing of gases in our atmosphere, including but not limited to oxygen. They are also vital to the life cycle of water, soil fertility so it can produce food, the cooling down of our planet, to sustain countless life forms and much more. Again, trees are not just a minor part of our planet, they FUNDAMENTAL to life on this planet. But what are we doing with them? We are cutting them down when we should be planting them. Yes wood is great for furniture and building houses, but the rapid clearing of forests is literally killing our planet.

Imagine a space ship where you couldn't land on any planet, and you needed to be 100% self-sufficient. You would need an on-board complete ecosystem to sustain your own life. You would literally need an on-board forest, including all the bugs, bees, soil, sunlight and more needed for the ecosystem to be complete. Now imagine if you removed all the trees. Gradually everything would die off, and you would not survive. This is exactly what is happening on Earth.

Primary environmental problems:

• Trees are being cut down faster than they are being replaced. This reduces water that completes the cycle, reduces trees further, degrades air and soil quality, and reduces life in general. Everything suffers. Trees are ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL.

• Water is being polluted. Nothing can survive without water. Polluting water is no different to polluting life itself.

What we are doing about it:

There are countless things that need to change, but we can start with the major ones:

• Reforestation: we are aligning with other organizations who know very well the importance of trees, and directly funding replanting of trees. That means buying young trees and planting them. It also means buying the land to plant the trees which is not a cheap option, but it is the quickest way to get things done.

• Educating the public on the importance of trees: a tree is not just a tree. It is absolutely critical for Earth to sustain life. The more people that know about it, the more people that will support the conservation of forests.

We recognize the need for development, i.e. building shopping malls and residential areas. But the problem with development it is all take and no give. In other words, for a shopping mall, large areas of forest and nature may be cleared, and the end result is ultimately concrete. One little area being cleared is fine, but we're not dealing with one little area.

Billions can be spent by our governments on water pipelines and water desalination plants, research into global warming etc., but barely anything at all is spent on the actual cause of the problem - we are cutting down too many trees! We are destroying the environment then wasting money, time and energy on action that doesn't even address the cause of the problem. For example, to cope with drought in Australia, we spend billions on desalination plants. Desalination plants are expensive, and they eventually contribute to the degradation of the environment. The waste product from desalination processes is basically very salty water - it can either be pumped deep underground, or back into the ocean. Both options actually do more harm. Desalination does not fix the problem - it is nothing more than a short term solution that leads to more problems later on.

When we pay for desalination plants, we are literally paying to help destroy the environment. If we spent as much money on something as simple as replanting trees as we do with destructive technology such as desalination plants, the environment would be dramatically repaired instead of damaged.

Desalination plants do NOT address the problem - they are nothing more than a temporary solution that leads to more problems later. Those that design them do not appear understand the concept of SUSTAINABILITY.