As Earth Day approaches, it is worth reflecting on where we stand as a species.
A home can only be described by its residents. Similarly, our planet Earth can only be described by its inhabitants. It is the duty of every man, woman and child to protect our only home from impending disasters.
As a dominant species on this planet, we have done much injustice by polluting and killing our only home. Each one of us has a role to play and conserve whatever we have. Let’s not be divided on racial, ethnic and religious issues and come together as one race to save our dear planet. We have everything to gain and nothing to lose if we do our part; it is time to promote sustainable living and begin recycling. Decreased use of resources and a smaller ecological footprint can prolong our planet's life.
I deeply respect and admire the efforts being made by contemporary philanthropists like Elon Musk and many others who are making strides to blend our technology with the environment by developing electric cars, tapping into solar energy and even saving rocket parts in the quest to conserve resources. With finite natural resources, we will extinguish everything by the end of this century if we don’t put our words into action.
As a Muslim, I’m reminded of a saying by Prophet Muhammad: “Do not waste water even if performing ablution on the bank of a fast-flowing large river.”
Nayyar Ahmed, Pittsburgh