Last Call

The sun felt slightly warmer than usual, the wind dry against her skin. All those green meadows she’d ran through had turned yellow, and every trace of the rivers she had once bathed on were reduced to sad, dry patches on the ground.

As she stood over that mountain, just at the edge of dusk, only one thought—more of a question—crept into the back of her mind: was this really how it all would end?

I bet we’ve all heard something about how our planet is slowly changing. And none of us can really fool ourselves, because deep down we do know Earth is dying. Come on, you don’t actually believe all those videos of glaciers melting, forests burning, and industrial massive expands are based on a bunch of Hollywood effects, now, do you?

Do you think the Amazon rain forest is vanishing out magically? Countries all over the world are suffering from this. Mexico's deserts, Egypt, the Sudan... All those who are found near the equator are exposed to the heavy waves of heat. The poles are disappearing, fading away like dust.

It’s more than disappointing to see what has gotten us to this point. Before, you could say we still had a chance to go back, reverse our actions to avoid the fatalities we’re now facing, but everyone thought it was a joke until they actually woke up one morning, sweating on their beds, and wondered why that summer was so hot compared to the others.

How many speeches or articles before someone took their time to put that plastic bottle where it belonged or told the waiter it was best not to use a straw?

People took this as a joke.

“Oh, how sad! A turtle choking on a six-pack plastic,” they said, opening their beer can and taking a long, refreshing sip.

Is it honestly that hard to realize this isn’t our planet? What will happen the day you wake up, walk lazily to your sink, try to wash your teeth, and then notice that there’s only a light string of water coming out of it? You will call the water company, ask them if anything’s wrong with your payment, only to hear that it’s happening all around the world.

We were not here from the start; we were offered a chance to be.

It’s not that hard to separate your trash, to look for places that can process electronic wastes so that you don’t throw it in your everyday bin. It’s not that hard to pick up that plastic wrapper you walked by on the street. It’s not that hard to turn the light off when you leave the room so that you don’t waste unnecessary energy. It’s not that hard to close the water tab when you’re washing your teeth or rubbing soap on your body in the shower.

Little things do help. If we don’t make an effort now, what will happen in the next few years? Take a moment to look at the news from these past weeks. There’s a whole article on Buzzfeed on how people in Phoenix and Texas this summer were literally astonished by how hot it was. Mail boxes and trashcans would melt, and some of them even took their time to prove you can actually bake cookies on your car.

Global warming isn’t a hoax. It wasn’t invented by the Chinese. And it’s most certainly not going away if we don’t do something to change our horrible habits now.

I get it. One usually wonders what they can do if they’re just a person, but ask yourself this: how do you win a chess game? I’ll tell you the answer: you win it by moving one piece at a time.

Be the first move, build your strategy little by little, and make the difference. Go and present recycling projects at your office, try to go big and persuade your community to apply green programs throughout it, and I guarantee you will see that soon enough, much more people will be joining those projects and will share the same thoughts.

Don’t wait until you wake up that morning and see the world crumbling down. This might be Earth’s last call.

Are you willing to sit down and watch it fade away, or will you do something to change this?