Today is the first day this year that I left my house without a coat, in my tank top and putting my sunglasses on. How glorious to feel the warmth of sunshine and just basking in the joy of a beautiful day like this. En route to work, wanting to maximise my time out in the sun, I even strolled over to St Stephen’s Green park and sat there for a wee bit.

I’m still smiling at the memory of such little pleasure.

Perhaps this is how Mother Earth is trying to gently remind me that today is Earth Day and we really should be more proactive in looking at this planet that we’re living in. Just being aware is not quite enough anymore.

Wicklow mountains in spring

Ireland in general has been very good in staying green, with various initiative over the years including free recycling facilities (although we could do with more, at convenient locations), “green transportations” namely the Luas, and plastic bag levy (it does encourage more people to bring reusable bags with them).

However, are they sufficient?

We still have a long way to go in educating people to be more involved with green initiatives. There is still too much traffic on the road, often with just single occupants within the vehicle. Why not encourage car-pooling between colleagues and neighbours? There is still too much paper waste in the city, particularly with the free Metro or Morning Herald distribution, not to mention a whole lot of flyers and leaflets. Why not provide green bins in around the city that people can leave these paper waste in, instead of throwing them in the regular bin or worse, just leaving them anywhere.

It is easy to think that a small effort to go green has little overall effect. That could not be more wrong! Every little contribution goes a long way accummulatively. Moreover, that also means one less person who thinks his/her effort is going to naught. That should be viewed as a very positive move.

Happy Earth Day folks!