GOOD intentions do not always result in better ends.
Earth Hour is one of the most popular, if not the most hyped, environment-related events. The annual occasion, organized by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), has been a global habit since 2008. It encourages everyone to turn off their lights for an hour to inspire the world to act against the climate change.
Last March 23 (the date of this year’s Earth Hour), one of my online friends shared a news article from The Telegraph of England dating three years back. In a nutshell the article said that there is only a little or no way that the Earth Hour is helping the environment. The experts voiced out their concerns, saying that though a switch-off decreases energy use for a while, it even worsens the situation as it increases carbon emissions due to the power surge that happens at the end of the 60-minute shutdown.
WWF defended the practice, saying that it is not really the aim of Earth Hour to save energy but to raise public awareness about climate change.
But the managing director of one British sustainable lighting company was quoted in the article saying that WWF and other environmental agencies might be missing the point, “rendering all good intentions useless at the flick of a switch.”
While we all know that such short-term events like Earth Hour cannot solve the wide-scale problem of global warming, the problem is that we let our mouth promise many things but let our hands do nothing. We must protect and preserve nature, we always say, but advocacies are meaningless when the so-called “advocates” do not walk the talk.
For example, students, while being taught in class the menace of climate change, hardly show in their behavior outside of the classroom any trace of environmental consciousness.
Along España Street, one can see cigarette butts, candy wrappers, plastics of all sorts, which have been carelessly thrown there by students and adults who should know better.
So was answering the question, “How can you help Mother Nature?,” just for the recitation grade and not out of a great concern for nature?
It was like the second son in St. Matthew’s Parable of the Two Sons, saying yes to his father but not doing what is asked of him at all!
We, homo sapiens living in this planet, know that it is our responsibility to take care of our environment so that if we fail, we doom ourselves.
But while we affirm this in speech, we deny this in our deeds. Endless blabbering and talking will not get us anywhere, but to perdition.
All the hype and commercialization of the Earth Hour may have propelled people to support the cause. However, it is clear that WWF has not yet reached its goal: to inspire many people to act. While I still believe in the power of these consciousness-raising programs, I doubt that everyone will support the cause and act on the problem at the same time.
My favorite novel series said that “Words are wind,” that words are nothing unless acted upon. Actions indeed still speak louder than words.
