Happy Earth Day – How Many More Do We Have?
On Thursday, just as it has been for 29 years, Ernie and I were chatting while he was cutting my hair. But there was something different about this conversation.
Usually, it’s his clippers that make the hair on my neck stand up.
This time, it was his words.
Actually, it was only two words:
Ten Years!
The end game is 10 years.
Why? That took only one word.
One word that hit me like a sledgehammer heavyweight right hook square on the nose.
Terrorism?
No.
Ecosystem!
I recently read that Al Gore just may make a bigger and greater contribution to America and the world as a filmmaker than he could have made as President.
Today is Earth Day!
The Earth is the body of the world.
Seeing how many of us mistreat our own bodies, it’s no big surprise we mistreat the planet.
I have two words for all of us:
10 YEARS!
That’s how much time we have to change our consumptive, indulgent, environmentally destructive ways. Nothing short of our future is at stake.
We have only two choices:
1- Continue to destroy the environment and dis-ease the ecosystem. In10 years we pass the point of no return. The planet’s body is irreversibly dis-eased.
2- Make an immediate commitment to make the environment and ecosystem JOB 1. In 10 years we have a chance to reverse course, and save the planet from a very painful and ugly future.
You would think this is a no-brainer.
You would think everyone on the planet would be eager to end waste, gluttony and reckless consumption.
You would think the American government would be the loudest voice in the world, shouting the voice of its people that we must preserve the ecosystem, WHATEVER it costs.
If we don’t make it so, if within 10 years we don’t reverse the disintegration of the environment, no amount of money, remorse or the blame game will save us. It will get ugly should there ever be a shortage of food, water or housing. A scarcity of any one of these critical human needs, and human behavior reverts to animal instinct:
EVERYBODY IS RESPONSIBLE.
You, me and everyone else.
I thought about a simple solution.
I made it a NEW Game Rule: 10% Here, 10% There!
Consume 10% Less, Contribute 10% More!
If we all consume 10% less of all natural resources, we can reverse the strain on those essential resources to sustain life for hundreds of years.
If we all contribute 10% more however and wherever we can, we create more pie.
Do both, you increase cash flow by 20%.
Redirect that money to boost your net worth.
By consuming less and contributing more, you enlarge the pie for everyone, and get a bigger piece of it for yourself.
Being good to the body Earth is good for the body human.
It’s good business, too.
It’s the height of spiritual economics.
Ten years!
That’s how long we have if we keep playing the old game.
We must speak to our neighbors, family, friends and especially, business leaders to play a new game. All it takes is 10% here and 10% there.
We must sound an alarm loud enough for everyone in the four corners of the world to hear.
We must lead by example.
There is no better way to celebrate Earth Day than by consuming 10% less, TODAY!
Then do it again tomorrow.
Consume 10% less, one day at a time.
It’s a gift we must give our children, one they must give their children.
How many more Earth Days will we celebrate?
That’s completely up to us.
Let’s make this Earth Day unlike any other Earth Day.
Let’s elevate Earth Day from a day recognized by a small number of us to a day of international celebration by us all to consume less and contribute more.
Happy Earth Day!
Mitch
