Happy Earthday!

For years and years, instead of saying Happy Birthday to people, I’ve always wished them a Happy Earthday! There are 2 reasons for this, firstly it rhymes with Happy Birthday, and secondly, it’s based on the traditional Rastafarian version, Blessed Earthstrong. It was not until about 10 years ago that I learned that there actually is such a thing as an Earthday! It’s celebrated annually on 22^nd April (which is the date of me writing this), but it’s not only a celebration of our Mother Earth, it’s a call to arms to save our Mother Earth from dying at the hands of her off-spring… Human Beings!

I used to live at Occupy London for a year in a tent, and one of the driving factors of this protest was environmental abuse of our Mother Earth. Nowadays, I have to ask myself, what is the global community, and in particular, large cities like London doing for Earthday and to protect our planet?

Not much, that’s my answer.

Having an annual ‘No Car Day’ is not enough! Expanding the Congestion Charge Zone to the inner ring road of London is a step in the right direction, BUT, it’s still not nearly enough! To put it bluntly, if I were in charge I’d make our city more like Amsterdam, where there are far more bikes than cars in the city, therefore improving the quality of the air breathed and the health of our Mother Earth.

Having an annual ‘No Car Day’ is not enough! Expanding the Congestion Charge Zone to the inner ring road of London is a step in the right direction, BUT, it’s still not nearly enough! To put it bluntly, if I were in charge I’d make our city more like Amsterdam, where there are far more bikes than cars in the city, therefore improving the quality of the air breathed and the health of our Mother Earth.

Of course, there are many things that we Human Beings can do to stop this (un)natural Armageddon, from the small i.e. recycling waste, to the extremely large i.e. banning all fossil fuel usage. Action needs to be taken VERY STRONGLY and VERY SOON to avert this catastrophe. You can find out more about watch actions are needed and when they are needed on the Earth Day website.

As ever, thank you for reading this call to arms and I hope to see you on my Brick Lane tour soon!