Black Monday NOT Black Friday!
The day the world turned black and we are NOT talking about Black Friday! Monday 16th October 2017 and severe weather events created the rarest phenomenon England has ever seen. There was the brightest blood curdling red sun shining through the weirdest clouds, then at 3pm it got darker and darker and went black. Some areas were forced to turn on street lights in the middle of the day as the dust partially blocked out the sun. Everyone stopped in their tracks to take photos and debate what to do and where to go, was it the end of the world??? Was the eerie hurricane sun a wake up call for us?
We have since learnt that this was a combination of Hurricane Ophelia which lashed Ireland with 96mph winds, Saharan dust and the ash from huge forest fires across central Portugal and Spain. The hurricane and the forest fires are a result of climate change, which is rearing its ugly head with increasing frequency around the world.
There is so much bad news everyday from the media: wars, terrorism, the problems of climate change and its effects on all who live on planet Earth. Many people feel helpless so they ‘bury their heads in the sand’, but how does that help our children, their 
children and all the wonderful creatures we share this great planet with?
Now hopefully the bizarre ‘Black Monday’ event has made some people take their ‘head out of the sand’ and want to take action. We only have one planet so we need to look after it!
We need to make caring for the planet second nature; we need to live, breath and sleep greener living and inspire as many people as we can along the way. Currently humans are generally working against the planet, through greed, using and abusing it, dominating it to suit our selfish needs and as a result we are watching the ice caps melt, sea levels rise, coastal flooding occurring, islands being lost to the sea, fields losing their fertility and resources shrinking before our eyes. So what can YOU do?
Action speaks louder than words!
Finding ways to reduce your carbon emissions is one of the most important things you can do. You’re helping tackle climate change and are actively making a difference to the environment – working to preserve the world for future generations.
- Change to 100% renewable clean energy: it takes about 5 minutes to compare providers and switch https://bigcleanswitch.org/sussexgreen/. Your carbon footprint is said to be reduced by 50% by changing to renewable energy.
- Divert your money – invest ethically
- Watch these two films – ‘The Age of Stupid’ produced by Franny Armstrong and ‘An inconvenient Sequel’, Al Gore’s new documentary. More film ideas here.
- Read about climate change and how we can reduce our family and businesses’ impact on the planet. A good simple explanation of climate change is the Ladybird book written by HRH The Prince of Wales, Tony Juniper and Emily Shuckburgh published earlier this year.
- Reduce your intake of animal products – become a ‘Reducetarian‘ or a vegetarian. By becoming a vegan you can reduce your carbon footprint by 20%.
- Take advantage of the power of the media and share good news stories, sowing seeds of hope and action.
- Think before you buy, think before you throw and lets move away from a make it, mine it, dump it society. Simplify our lives – downshift.
We need to inspire people into action rather than frighten them through doom and gloom predictions.
YOUR PLANET NEEDS YOU, FLIGHT LIKE YOUR WORLD DEPENDS ON IT!
Let’s stride forwards confidently into action. Courage is not about the denial of fear it is about facing fear and moving beyond it.
Learn more about simple actions you can take to live more sustainability here.