by Nadia Ramoutar  MMM Communications Coordinator           Ireland                     10.01.2024

As one year ends and another begins, there is this glimmer of hope that somehow in January we will be better people.  After some self-indulgence in December for Christmas and New Year’s or whatever holiday you celebrate, (December is a busy month for world religion!), January has a stark reality to wake us up.  The bank and the scales often reflect the fun we had celebrating.  Now, as we face the work ahead we are hopeful that in the year coming, we are somehow going to make better choices.  But, the truth remains that we are the same people we were before with the same habits.  Those very human habits we have are not so innocently contributing to the death of our own home planet.  While the Universe continues to grow according to scientists, our earth is showing major signs of not only decline, but demise.

I read something recently that jolted me into an awakening I was unprepared to experience.  So this January I am going on a Climate Crisis Diet.  No, this does not mean I will avoid listening to any news about Climate Change; it means that I am going to try really hard to stop consuming or behaving in ways that further hurt our planet.

“Perhaps our efforts towards sustainability from here on should really be reframed as palliative measures. Or is there time yet for radical surgery and treatment?”  This quote comes from an article by Doctors For the Environment was the metaphoric mallet to the head I needed to wake me out of my denial.

The idea that our planet needs to enter into a “palliative” mode stopped me in my tracks.  I am not ready to let our Earth enter this phase.  This is the place that I love so much, a place I want preserved for future generations, and this is the only home we have.  Like caring for a beloved relative, I am not ready to stop fighting for radical surgery and treatment for our one and only Earth.  Are you?

We have those who want to deny that the climate crisis is real.  I offer first hand witnessing of the ravishing effects of the climate change in Tanzania recently.  We can look at any part of the world and look at the bizarre weather and ecological changes that are ferociously showing evidence that all is not well.  Often when a loved one is diagnosed with a serious illness or disease, they or other loved ones deny the seriousness of the impact of it, ignoring how critical the timing is for treatment.  We are now in that moment, it is now or it is never.

For me, the time is now.  I am not willing to accept palliative care for our planet – yet, not until I have exhausted every effort I know.   I hope you will resolve in 2024 to take whatever steps you can to keep our Earth alive.  Live more simply, consume yet and contribute positive efforts towards sustainability.

If you would like to know more about Irish Doctors for the Environment or read the full article on this, please visit: https://ide.ie