Today Miss Li Bingbing who serves as Earth Hour Ambassador posted a blog on EarthHour.org, talking about the importance of everyone doing their part for the environment. Always thoughtful, Miss Li, has brought up some very good points about why lifestyle changes are important for everyone in order to help the environment. The original blog post can be found at EarthHour.org: Guest Blog Post from Earth Hour Ambassador Li Bingbing.
I am a strong believer in small actions making a big difference. Every decision we make today has a ripple effect on the world tomorrow. That is it is so important to pay attention to the little things we do in our daily lives that have an impact on the planet. Collectively, our small actions are having dramatic consequences to our changing climate.
Vote Earth is not about taking a political stance. It’s about making a conscious decision to raise your own self-awareness of the little actions in your daily life that can reduce the impact of global warming. Like switching off lights in unoccupied rooms or turning electrical appliances such as TVs and DVD players off standby. Every one of us can Vote Earth by changing one small habit that, collectively, will be of enormous benefit to the planet. Any action you take today, no matter how big or small, that reduces the impact of global warming can be your Vote for Earth.
As an actress, I spend a lot of my time in hotel rooms. If I’m only staying for a short time, I Vote Earth by insisting that they do not change my bed sheets or towels as this cuts down on energy used for washing. I bring my own slippers and toiletries to reduce the impact of manufacturing. And I encourage everyone who travels with me to do the same.
One of the easiest things I encourage people to do that will have the greatest impact on climate change is to not use disposable chopsticks in restaurants. Did you know that through deforestation and manufacturing processes, 10 pairs of disposable chopsticks accounts for 0.2kg of carbon dioxide? While that might not sound like much, when you multiply it by the hundreds of millions of people who use disposable chopsticks in restaurants across China, the rest of Asia and throughout the world every day, it is equivalent to tens of thousands of tons of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere because of disposable chopsticks…. everyday!
It really does not take a lot of effort to Vote Earth and make a difference. It is simply a question of conscience and consciousness; do you want a future for the planet that is not ravaged by global warming and can you become more aware of changing the small habits in your life that contribute to it? The answer is really quite simple and is easily found when you talk to children.
As an ambassador for Earth Hour, I get the opportunity to meet with children and talk about climate change, and how they can begin to practice a way of life that will benefit the planet they will inherit.
Last week I visited 3rd and 4th grade students at Er Li Gou Primary School in Beijing who were taking part in the Earth Hour Lantern Project. A project involving children all over the world who are making paper lanterns and sending them to Copenhagen for the UN Climate Conference, inscribed with their own personal message for world leaders.
It was so encouraging to see that future generations of world, business and community leaders are so willing to adopt a way of life that minimizes their impact on the planet. It made me think that we grown ups can learn so much from the wonderful minds of children.
As I watched and listened to them make their own enthusiastic statement on the future they want for the planet, something very important occurred to me – they are not inheriting their future from us; we are borrowing it from them.
Read more about how you can help out at EarthHour.org.