Saturday, August 1, 2009

Mother Earth is hurting.


I used to love to theme the birthday parties for my children when we celebrated. They were always a hit as I put my heart and soul into the preparation.

One of my favourites and theirs and it was for my son's 6th birthday was ' Back To Nature'. We had so much going :



1. A super badge by big sister for everyone to wear. I love this badge so much, I still have one!
2. Uncle Foo , known to those in MNS circle, thought a showy erythrina glauca would be just right for our garden. So my son did the baptismal watering .The sapling bought from Sg Buloh was planted in full view of 40 pairs of eyes.
3. I prepared a womery and showed the children the burrowings of the hard working worms. There was even a poem Earthworm by Leonard Clarke which goes , 'Do you squirm when you see an earthworm....'
4. An MNS friend brought along his pet python. A brave boy loved the creature outright. But I was 'chicken'. I only touched.
5.We had an MNS member showing the kids the telescope - to see the stars. Only thing the party was in the afternoon, so we looked at other things. Say what you like, we had gone to the moon and back !!
6..We sold some MNS t-shirts
7. We played games that got the kids running free and wild!
8. And not least, there was a poem to say it all, for all to read.

Mother Earth

The earth is our mother
The ground is her skin
Mountains her bones
Trees and plants her living hair
Birds are songs
And the listening stones her ears
Animals her fingers
Frogs and snakes are her sense of smell
Insects her thoughts
Her dreams the sea and all its swimmers
Water her blood
The air her breath
Sunlight and fire the breath of her body
We are her eyes
And we are her children.

To this day, this is one of my favourite nature poems.

But Mother Earth is hurting. Pollution threatens the air we breathe and the water we drink. The land we live on is full of toxic waste and the list of endangered animals grows longer.

I passed by an Eco Week exhibition in One Utama shopping complex. The 'trees' propped with stands had eco -bags dangling from the branches. No one was hanging round the 'trees' and I decided to have a closer look and read. There was no need to read between the lines as the messages/images were direct.



Yeah, can't beat about the bush when Mother Earth is hurting. I decided to click away at some of the images and their messages. Well, am seldom caught without my trusty digital Canon since I started blogging :)

As, you read, do add your own precious thoughts, your feelings in your comments. Give me your passion . Let us reignite the love for Mother Earth and do our bit to save our planet. It's not too late but we must do. NOW!



YES, plastic LASTS! Imagine, it takes 400 -1000 years to break down!! It does not biodegrade instead photodegrades, ie. it breaks down into smaller and smaller toxic bits and contaminates the soil, water in the oceans entering the foodchain when it is ingested by animals.
How are we meeting this challenge? we recycle the bags we get and refuse plastic bags as much as possible. Also, when shopping, I use my own carrier bag. How about you?


Keep swinging, friend! Hang in there!
Will we have our closest living relatives surviving in the near future? Many problems face them - deforestation, slash and burn agriculture, illegal trade, hunting,....

Everyone can identify with a fragrant garden, with the beauty of sunset, with the quiet of nature, with a warm and cozy cottage.
- Thomas Kinkade, landscape artist

Tropical forests of all varieties are disappearing rapidly as humans clear the natural landscape.

ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! - GOne!
I told a story I wrote , Paradise Lost to some children during one of my regular sessions. And we sang about the layers of the forest. We had such an enjoyable session and I know they remember trudging through the forest with me :)


Pandas, the peaceful furry creatures are dying and the main reason is habitat loss. The human population growth, increase in agriculture, mining and logging activities are responsible for the decrease in the population.


No one wants incinerators that burn garbage or garbage dumps in their backyards. When garbage is burned, it releases dangerous gases into the air. Dumped garbage and industrial waste can become deadly when acids , metals and other materials leak out of landfills

Penguins - stay cool. How, if snow is not there? There is a vast increase in the average temperature of the earth. All the warming is attributed to us humans.


ONE WITH NATURE
ONE VOICE
TOGETHER WE CARE!


Water, water, everywhere
Not a drop to drink
- Samuel Taylor Coleridge in the Rime of the Ancient Mariner.

We are in troubled waters. By accident, we poison our waters as in the great oil spill by the tanker,Exxon Valdex as far back as 1989. 11 million gallons of oil spilled off the Alaskan coast. And through our thoughtless acts, we poison our lakes,rivers and oceans .


Say 'NO' to ivory poaching
Say 'NO' to bullhooks
Say 'NO' to chaining for long hours


Hope springs eternal in the human breast - Alexander Pope (English poet, 1688-1744).

Things look bad but it's not too late to act. The sooner we do the better. Because Mother Earth can't wait forever.



30 comments:

  1. I love the theme of the birthday party. Its so thoughtful and fun, and also the poem is beautiful

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  2. Refusing plastic bag is the first simple thing that we all can do now. Let us do that and educate others. Many people are still not aware that they really do not need the little plastic bags use to just wrap their purchase to be put in their handbags. The small bags are not usable for anything, they are just throw aways without any function.

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  3. The green theme party is such an excellent idea, and there are so many things we can do to help our earth.

    Beautiful post, and your pictures are just wonderful!

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  4. Very interesting post and green message. My niece's just celebrated her 21st birthday with a Red and Black Theme and most of us are so sporting, we wore red and black.

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  5. Fantastic post..Thanks for the message and every body should pledge to save mother earth before she gets angry..Unseen Rajasthan

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  6. Its a fantastic long post ;)
    I love the poem ^__^
    Theme's on a birthday is nice,
    special the green theme !!!

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  7. What a wonderful and ambitious post! We live green, reuse stuff, rarely use the dryer, never use plastic bags and keep the heat and a.c. low/high.

    But I never did a green birthday theme! That is amazingly cool --

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  8. What creative, fun ways to celebrate Earth and also teach kids about how important it is to be kind to her. Sounds like a great party!

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  9. HI
    Turquoise Diaries, we had a great time and after the party was over, my son asked what theme we were going to have for the next! I was just putting up my feet then!!

    Ocean Girl, you're doing great yourself. Every little bit counts to create awareness.

    Icy BC, this theme certainly went down well with everyone.

    alicesg, party themes go further to make an event special.

    Unseen Rajasthan, glad you like the post. Everyone of us can do our bit.

    Anya, one thing remains - to paint the poem !

    Anne Spollen, it seems like ages ago . The green message was relevant and still is - the party was 17 years ago!! And talking about it brings lovely memories :)

    Suzanne Casamento, yes, so much fun was had by all. We had many great themes.

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  10. It is great that you have thought you kids about loving Mother Earth at such a young age. Leading by example and teaching them young is the best gift a parent can pass to the child. On a bigger scale, I really hope that manufacturers will make more quality products that lasts longer so that we can move away from the 'throw away and replace with new one' mentality. There won't be rubbish if we do not create rubbish. I'm with you on making Mother Earth happy.

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  11. That was a fabulous post. I love that you're so committed to making the world a greener place.

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  12. Fantastic post. Everyone should contribute something to make the world a better place to live.

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  13. HI
    Autumn Belle, our 'use and throw' mentality is prevalent so that adds to the mounting rubbish.

    MMO, thanks for visiting.

    Veronica Lee, Rajesh, let's 'heal the world', as MJ puts it. Thanks for your comments.

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  14. This is a great post Keats. Recenly Ikea launched their NO PLASTIC bag campaign and I thought that was very brave, you know..considering Malaysians not wanting to be inconvenienced...but it went very well and looking at it, it's packed every weekend. Cold Storage have their Plastic Free day on Thursday which I thought was a good start too. Yes, our poor mother is suffering but all that suffering will come back to us and the future generations for sure. Have a splendid week ahead..and GREAT idea on the birthday, I will think of similar lines when I want to organise the next birthday for the kids/Hugs/M

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  15. Hi Keats!
    Wonderful post! Absolutely needed!!

    Thanks for your visit and comment at Blogtrotter, which is back to the «urban jungle», though Reykjavik is far from being... ;)). Enjoy and have a fabulous week!

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  16. What an awesome, uplifting post, with such appropriate and touching captions for the photos! (Esp. the ones for the monkeys, penguins and elephant -- I'm a big softie, so animals in trouble make me emotional).

    Awareness and education are such powerful tools. I refuse to believe that we are such a lazy, third world country that we can't make our country a better place within our lifetimes. Change is coming, Keats! It may not be a revolution, but it may happen as part of an evolution -- I see positive signs that we are becoming a more caring, more environmentally aware and responsible society.

    I love the idea of your Back To Nature birthday party. What a capital idea! I can see how that would appeal to both children and adults. I had an animal welfare themed birthday party last year, and my guests brought presents for the SPCA animals. (http://covertoperations78.blogspot.com/2008/12/30th-birthday-saturn-return.html) If I were to have another one, it would definitely be green themed! My friend Lillian had a green wedding and it was wonderful (http://covertoperations78.blogspot.com/2008/10/lil-jacks-green-wedding.html)! Your Back To Nature birthday party was definitely very original, creative and exciting!

    Regards,
    CO78

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  17. Hi
    M. Kate, good to have Ikea, Cold Storage doing their bit for the environment. Keep it sustained and change will come :)
    Yeah, keep us updated on your green party.

    GMG, thanks for visiting too! Wow, you're an absolute tour guide with all your travels .

    ~Covert_Operations'78~, thanks so much for your enthusiasm for this post. Let the winds of change blow our way and we will surely be better citizens.
    I must add you're truly a Green Living person yourself and MNS ( Malaysian Nature Society)
    recognises your worthy contributions. Well done!

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  18. First of all, that sounds like one amazing birthday party! I love the wormery idea!

    Thanks for sharing those images and thoughts. The plastic bag forest is striking.

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  19. It is my pleasure to pop in, Very interesting and GREEn post, I enjoyed the artwork!
    Rosey

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  20. I love green, it's my favorite color and what a wonderful post you did keats. A very good cause. BTW, thanks for joining the contest in my blog but sad to say somebody else won, til next time. Have a great week keats. Namaste~

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  21. Great post, and wonderful message! I worry about clean water.

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  22. Hi
    adrienne, I forgot to mention. the party coincided with father's day and the fathers had the young uns' yelling their heads off in a short 'display' of football skills!

    Rosey Pollen, thanks so much for visiting.

    Pacey,so, green is always in! it was my pleasure to do the slogan. better luck next time :)

    Gran, appreciate your comments. Good luck in your new home !

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  23. What an eco-conscious post. We must all do our part for the planet.

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  24. Oh yes! Birthday party themes are so much fun for adults and children alike! Your GREEN theme is wonderful. A teaching tool and party fun at the same time. Great idea!

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  25. This post is fantastic. Congratulations on such a good work. You do what you can and teach your children how to respect and love the Mother Earth. We all should follow your example and try to do what we can to protect it from destroying and abusing.

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  26. Hi
    Irene Toh, thanks for your comments.

    Coralie Cederna Johnson, Yes, GREEN is in!

    MedaM,thanks for your comments. Children learn when they do, so together we 'heal the world'.

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  27. What a conscious post! I love the back to nature party theme :)

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  28. Hi sunnymama, great to hear from you!

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  29. This is a great theme for a birthday party... like train them young. Such lovely badges too. Lot of hard work has gone in to this.

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  30. Hi Indrani, it was fun and I didn't really feel it as I was younger then! All the hgh energy of playing together with the young ones.

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Great to have you popping in!