Rachel Tan Xuan En 303

“It’s worth remembering that it is often the small steps, not the giant leaps, that bring about the most lasting change.” – Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. What small steps can you take to help tackle the climate crisis?

Growing up, I began to realise the great severity of one of the most pressing crises the world is facing–climate change. Everyone, no matter their spoken language, race, and social class have definitely all heard of this phrase before. In the small country that I live in, Singapore, this phrase has become so common, I see it everywhere. It is a popular essay topic in school, it is always in the daily newspapers, and it is being discussed by the parliament once again. But when are we going to stop talking and start doing?  The late Queen of England once said,“It’s worth remembering that it is often the small steps, not the giant leaps, that bring about the most lasting change.” I believe that if we just try to tackle climate change, we will eventually solve it one day. In my essay, I will be writing about the small ways I, as an individual, to join in the battle against the worsening climate.

The first step I would take to stop global warming is to stop travelling overseas. In 2022, from aircrafts alone, Singapore generated 12.8 million tonnes of greenhouse gases. By refraining from travelling overseas, I can significantly reduce my personal carbon footprint, allowing me to contribute less to the carbon footprint generated by Singapore. On top of that, not travelling overseas will allow me to appreciate the true beauty in the culture, way of life, and nature in Singapore. Although I do enjoy travelling, I feel that being able to play a part in solving the climate crisis through this small step, while being able to cherish my motherland is even more satisfactory.

Another step I would like to take to resolve climate change is to create my very own green space. A little garden that I could build in my house or my neighbourhood park would not only give me cleaner and greener air, it would also be a colourful and vibrant change to my everyday scenery. Although Singapore is already planted with trees, bushes, and vegetation all around, my very own green space would cool down the temperature of my surroundings, reducing the need of air conditioning especially in Singapore where the weather all-year round is summer. Furthermore, if I start a garden in my neighbourhood park, it would create awareness of the need to do something about global warming, and inspire my neighbors to adopt the mission to create not only a green Singapore, but a green world.

One last step I would do to mitigate climate change is to educate myself and those around me on the proper ways of using the 3Rs. Everyone knows about the 3Rs, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, but not many know how to properly use it to combat climate change. Recycled materials we throw into the big blue recycling bins are often not suited for recycling. This contaminates the contents in the bin, even the materials that are actually used for recycling. Thus, despite it looking like we have actually done something good for the environment, the planet, we actually take a step away from reaching our goal of a greener future. By educating myself and people around me, we together can learn to stray away from misconceptions in improving our climate, and finally learn the ways to properly recycle. Much like how people in Japan take recycling and sorting out their trash carefully, we, Singaporeans, and residents of Mother Earth, should inculcate habits for our environment.

Together, if we take the small steps to aid the environment, we will notice the huge impact we can create. On our journey towards a healthier, greener place where we all can live in harmony.