Sussex Technical High School
Web of Wonders

Many people do not give enough credit to the planet that we call our home. Earth—the only habitable planet human beings can safely survive on, the only place where our ancestors have lived and thrived on. The only planet we can rely on. Modern-day Earth has given humans endless resources for survival. From the first person on Earth to the newest baby born, the planet where we live has impacted our lives endlessly. There is a harmonious balance when it comes to the environment when it meshes with human life. For, without one, there would not be the other. Without food, there’d be no humans, without plants, there’d be no animals. Wood, flowers, insects, water, coal, air. Those items all make a person who they are, they bring communities together, they elicit survival and knowledge, and evolution within a population. Taking away one item in that list changes everything. Yet, many ignore it.

Some days it may seem as if I am a tiny part of this vast endless world. A speck among billions of people, just a number in the census. Then, I look to the trees and realize I’m a part of something bigger, something that has been cultivating for eons before the idea of me had ever been thought of. On days when I feel down, I think of the large, wooden perennial plants in my dense, thick backyard filled with endless old oak trees. I compare myself to them. They have been on the Earth much longer than I have. They were rooted in the ground before some had to be cut down for the construction of my house and they will be there for centuries later. Yet they simply sit there. Tall oak trees, rooted in the soil, having towered in the sky for ages. Some may think they have no purpose, standing for years, taking up space. Yet, those trees remind me of the circle of life, an ecosystem endlessly moving, endlessly changing. And those oaks in my backyard are a vital part of that system. They provide oxygen to humans a tiresome job that results in clean air. They provide a home for the animals living in the woods: squirrels, beehives, and bird nests. They provide shade for me when I want to crawl outside, nuzzle up under the trees and read a book. Something as simple-looking as those trees provide actions that would be drastically felt if it was taken away. Losing my beloved oak trees would leave an imbalance in the environment that would change the entire trajectory of how I live my life.

The ecosystem provides anything and more for me. It provides food, shelter, transportation, and even pets. Just one change in the ecosystem is needed for imbalance. Say, the sun stopped shining on the plants. In a butterfly effect of events, that leads to less food for farm animals, in return less food and livestock-based products for eating and other uses. This is why the environment needs to be protected. If just one bad thing happened to the Earth, life would result in unthinkable negative consequences. These consequences have motivated me to help the Earth in any way that I can. Recently, I have taken the initiative of my own to make sure the environment will be safe for future generations to come. Aside from recycling and composting, I learned the task of creating Plarn. Plarn is essentially yarn created out of plastic bags which is mainly crocheted into long sleeping mats for the unsheltered homeless. Every month at my school, a club I participate in throws a Plarn Workshop where participants are allowed to help cut, tie, and crochet plastic bags into Plarn mats. It is a simple way where students like me can assist in giving back to our community and providing a way of recycling to save the planet. The Earth has given us all the resources we need to survive. The job is left to us to take care of it.
This is why we need to be more aware of the damaging costs we are doing to our planet.
Deforestation, Pollution, Burning Fossil Fuels, and biggest of all, Climate Change.

Climate Change is a phenomenon that is one hundred percent real. And we need to do something about it. Earth: Our world, our home, is being ruined from carelessness, and for the future of generations to come, the citizens in this world need to make a stand. Everyone who steps foot in this wonderous world, who sees the precious sights and resources the Earth supplies needs to know that we need to make a change. There is no doubt that people need to be more aware of what negative consequences they’re making to the planet. Simple actions such as recycling and conserving energy can be done easily. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, scientists predict by the end of the 21st century the global temperature will be at least five degrees warmer compared to the average found from 1901 to 1960. (Dahlman, 2023). That information alone should be motivation for everyone to immediately want to go and toss their plastic water bottle in the recycling can, or choose to walk or bike rather than produce toxic gas emissions in an already polluted atmosphere by using a car or truck.

Earth has been here for billions of years before me, and I am sure it will be there after. It is just a matter of when the vital resources provided to us begin to dwindle, from our actions. We need to make a change in the way we’re treating our planet. We need to be more aware of our actions that are harming our world, or else we could lose the harmonious balance between the ecosystem and human life that provides us so much. It shouldn’t be controversial to want better for our planet—to want better for new life. I aspire to leave this world for future generations seeing that the beloved Earth I was born on is left clean, safe for new children, and safe for families to settle down and prosper for hundreds of years after I am gone. We need to start taking this world more seriously. After all, it’s the only home we got.

Reference:
Dahlman, R. L. A. N. D. L. A. (2023, January 18). Climate change: Global temperature. Climate.gov. Retrieved April 25, 2023, from https://www.climate.gov/newsfeatures/understanding-climate/climate-change-global-temperature