Environment Day

SPEECH: RAMI MASANGO

10 JUNE 2011 WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY

YOU ARE YOUR ENVIRONMENT! Good day colleagues.

The World Environment Day is a reminder of how grateful we need to be to Mother Nature, which sustains all forms of life. This is the day to focus our thoughts and our energies to make collective efforts towards protecting the environment.

World Environment Day was commemorated last Sunday on 5 June. It is a day that stimulates awareness of the environment and enhances political attention and public action. It was the day that United Nations Conference on the Human Environment began. The United Nations Conference on the Human Environment was from 5–16 June 1972. It was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1972, and the first World Environment Day was in 1973. World Environment Day is hosted every year by a different country with a different theme.

The theme for 2011 is: Forests - Nature At Your Service. Forests cover one third of the earth’s land mass, performing vital functions and services around the world which make our planet alive with possibilities. In fact, 1.6 billion people depend on forests for their livelihoods. Forests play a key role in our battle against climate change, releasing oxygen into the atmosphere while storing carbon dioxide. Thousands of activities were organized worldwide, with beach clean-ups, concerts, exhibits, film festivals, community events and much more. India was this year's global host.

To acknowledge this concept of World Environment Day, one has to understand what is ‘our environment’? In simple terms, the environment is our surroundings or conditions in which we live. That would include a physical element like the physical environment (the built environment around us), and the natural environment, that would generally be the air, water, land, atmosphere, etc.

We are gathered here today not to re-educate us on our environment, but to make this a collaborative effort of sustaining our environment. What destroys our environment? Pollution is a process whereby various harmful substances are added to the environment by human and natural activities.

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NATURAL ACTIVITIES that cause pollution are, for example, volcanic eruptions, sandstorms and natural forest fires. These events cause large amounts of substances such as ash and dust, to be added to the environment. These are obviously harmful to our health.

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DOMESTIC ACTIVITIES from homes and offices produce a lot of waste too; INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITIES may give rise to highly hazardous chemicals (e.g. sulphur dioxide). And then there is AGRICULTURAL ACTIVITIES which produce waste from animals, pesticides and herbicides which are washed into rivers and then into the sea.

Environmental problems such as depletion of natural resources, water pollution and global warming have all resulted mainly from human activities. However, not all is lost, as we can still do our part for the earth through environmental conservation. Conservation involves minimising the negative impacts caused by environmental problems. For example; Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC’s) are organic compounds that contain carbon, chlorine, and fluorine. These have caused the depletion of the ozone layer. We may not be able to undue this damage; however we can certainly stop the bad practices by reducing the amount of CFCs released into the atmosphere and by so doing stop destroying the ozone layer. I came across very simple and practical ways to conserve the environment ….one day at a time! WATER Use it sparingly. Don't let fresh water run down the drain. You can fill the sink with some water to wash your fruit and vegetables and then use the same water to wash dishes. AIR Clean air is vital to our health, so do your part in keeping the air clean. Choose pump sprays, not aerosol sprays, choose latex paints over oil-based paint. Planting a tree is a great way to give back to the environment too! WASTE

One of the easiest things you can do is eliminate extra waste from activities. Try shopping at a farmers market for food. Bring your own reusable bag to the shop. Reuse and share products. Go Green! RECYCLE We've all heard of it. But can we all do it? YES! If you just put your mind to it. Many communities already have containers to separate and recycle paper, plastics, and glass. You can also recycle and reuse by sharing, or donating your clothes, electronics, magazines, etc. BE THOUGHTFUL All it takes is a second to consider if what you are about to do is harmful to the environment. Be mindful of your actions and make choices that are environmentally friendly. Not only will you help protect the environment, you will feel great knowing you did your part for mother earth and for the generations to come! The next generation of human beings shall inherit this earth in the condition that we leave it. What the future generation will depend on is the actions taken by this generation and hence it is our responsibility and duty to care for the environment today. Therefore, my dear colleagues, I think we have established that conserving our environment is not only the business of government or environmentalists, but is expected of every one of us.

I am grateful to our Environmental Management team for putting all the effort in looking after our environment; not only with the purpose of complying with environmental requirements, but also going an extra mile to ensure that our site is conserved and welllooked after. Let us continue to support their efforts and actively participate by doing the right things for our environment. I encourage you to participate in green initiatives here at work and in your communities. It is the right thing to do.

Thank you!