How To Save The Planet

 

How To Save The Planet

This week David Attenborough’s long awaited ‘A Life On Our Planet’ hit Netflix. Prior to seeing the documentary, I felt like I was already aware of the issues that might be raised, and like many of you, and was already doing what I could to reduce my own personal impact on the planet. Therefore it took me a good week to actually sit down and watch, not expecting to see or learn anything new.

However the deep emotional effect that this show had on me was entirely unexpected. The story of David Attenborough’s life, unfolding in tandem with the story of the natural world’s decline, made for one of the most powerful pieces of television I’ve ever watched. David’s harrowing description of the changes that he’s witnessed throughout his life and how humans have depleted the planet’s natural resources to dangerously low levels was told in such a personal way that it was impossible not to be moved. And when David cries on screen, I felt my own tears come to my eyes, emotionally overwhelmed by everything I was seeing and hearing.

I spend a lot of time outdoors. I swim, hike, run, paddle, surf… In fact, now I think about it, my whole life revolves around nature, and without it, I probably wouldn’t have much of a life at all. It turns out that I owe natural world a great debt. Nature is at the centre of my life, but have I really repaid what it’s done for me? Not really. I could do better. And that’s what the documentary was all about, the fact that as a whole, we need to do better. As well as the cold hard facts about the changes humans have brought on the planet, there was also a message of hope. It’s not too late. We can rewild the earth. We can let nature recover. We can do better.

Because the cold hard truth is that the world doesn’t need us. Nature will recover with or without humans. Seeing images of abandoned Chernobyl reclaimed by forests was an already living demonstration of this. I’m not entirely sure where I’m going with this blog post. I’m not going to give any top tips for reducing your carbon footprint or anything like that; David Attenborough will tell you all you need to know in a far more agreeable and inspirational way than I ever could. I just think you should watch the documentary.

“We need to learn to work with nature, rather than against it, and I’m going to tell you how…”

David Attenborough                              A Life On Our Planet