Today is the last day of 2018, and I have been reflecting on the past 365 days. I have been wondering what have I done with my time, both personally and collectively? This has been an interesting year, to say the least. It seems like so much has, and is happening in this country, as well as globally. Personally, most of us are busy just trying to stay on track with our lives. Trying to keep our focus on our own lives, and the lives of our loved ones. Many of us are also aware of and concerned about the state of our world community. There are so many issues we face together.

One of the biggest issues we face Globally is climate change. I have asked myself, what can I do to be more proactive in this important issue? What can I do better than I have in the past?

The List is long and monumental and we cannot wait for someone else to fix it, To me, climate change is about the survival of humanity itself. Every one of us needs to participate in this endeavor, individually and collectively. For last few years, when my husband and I go for morning walks along the beach, we bring plastic trash bags to pick up the debris on the shore. It is a small thing, but we are trying to do what we can.

About two years ago, on our Sunday morning walk, I noticed there were small soft white, almost clear particles on the beach, I picked them up and showed them to my husband asking him if he knew what they were? He said he did not. So in trying to analyze them, I realized they were degraded pieces of plastic. I was horrified by the thought that the fish were eating these small pieces of plastic and then we were eating the fish. I tried to share this information on Facebook at the time and went about my life doing what I could do here and there, telling my self, I am doing the best I can.

The reality is that this is not true, I am not doing best I can, We all could do so much more to reduce our use of plastic. They say ”Denial is not a river in Egypt”, but we all are in denial. We are seeing and hearing about rising water levels in major cities, and even some of the areas in which we live.

Within the last few years, the sounds of urgency are getting louder. Some studies claim that by the year 2050 there will be more plastic in the Ocean than there are fish. This should scare us all. So this is how I am starting in 2019. I will try not to bring home any plastic bags, I will make every effort to buy only re-usable and washable bags. In fact, I have purchased reusable produce bags that can be washed.

I will be allocating money from yoga fund to donate to scientists who are doing research on the possibility of breaking down these plastics. The size of the earth has not become any larger, but the population on this planet has grown to around 7.7 Billion people. It is growing larger by the day, It is time for all of us to take some responsibility to help clean up this mess and to take an active role in finding a solution for this planet that we call home.

Please comment or tell us your story and what steps you are taking to help solve this urgent problem.

Thank you, Mi Sun.