ORDINARY
by
Antonio C. Antonio
July
30, 2014
In
the past few weeks, I have been receiving Personal Messages from Facebook friends
and blog readers. Here are some of the
commentaries/questions that I am re-printing in this article. There are other comments but most revolve
around these four questions. I thought
it best not to mention the names of the comment senders anymore so we don’t get
into any trouble in case they prefer to remain anonymous. Hereunder are the comments and my responses:
Comment
No. 1: “Dear Sir Anton: Congratulations to you and your advocacy. My wife and I believe in your fight to
protect the environment. But we are simple working people who hardly have time
to contribute to your crusade. What are the other ways we can help?”
Our
pro-environment advocacy could be integrated in our daily activities and we
need not appropriate extra time for it.
It just has to be a continuous and conscious effort. For example: We could constantly remind our family members
to put their candy wrappers in their pockets until they find a trash bin. I’ve
written a blog (“The Ripple Principle”) published at http://antonantonio.blogspot.com/
about a simple methodology to promote pro-environmental advocacies on a very
personal and individual level. You may
want to read this. Thank you for your continued interest in my posts, blogs and
articles.
Comment
No. 2: “Anton, how do we organize to have environment friendly projects when a
lot of people do not want to get involved?”
It’s
sad when people give less attention and concern to environment-related
issues. Organizing collective action
will really be very tough given this condition.
But environment advocacies may not always start this way. I believe we do not need to be organized to
show we care. We can always do this individually or on a personal capacity
basis. Planting trees in a group will
spell more fun but we can plant a tree or two alone. What is more important is getting things
done. I have written a blog (“The Ripple
Principle”) published at http://antonantonio.blogspot.com/
about a simple methodology to promote pro-environmental advocacies on a very
personal and individual level. You may
want to read this. Lastly, I firmly
believe that people will eventually gravitate around a cause (or advocacy) they
believe in. It may not be today,
tomorrow, next week, next month, next year or even in the next decade… but
eventually. Thank you for your continued
interest in my posts, blogs and articles.
Comment
No. 3: “Mr. Antonio, Reading your blogs only made me realize how little I know
about the environment. How would reading
all the information you write help protect the environment?”
I’m
glad my blogs have somewhat helped in increasing your knowledge about the
environment. The primary purpose of our
Facebook Page “Pro EARTH Crusaders” is “to promote pro-environment posts aimed
at engaging other netizens towards individual and collective action to protect
Mother Earth” while my blogsite http://antonantonio.blogspot.com/
“intends to provide thought-provoking perspectives to increase the level of
awareness on environmental issues and concerns aimed at inspiring individual
and/or collective action towards protecting Mother Earth”. The underlying message in these social media
outlets is “engaging and inspiring people towards individual/collective action
to protect Mother Earth”. Before, I also
felt that the “me-writing-and-people-reading” strategy will not work. But later on I was able to network with productive
thinkers (to name a few: Bert Martinez; Jose Lorenzo Castillo; Nanding Carlos
Villanueva; Tino Martinez; and, Vicky Martires) who pushed my little thoughts
to the next level and raised the bar on intellectual public discourse. More are beginning to join our on-line
discussions about the environment. The
information I write may pale in comparison to what we really should know about
the environment… but with more people getting involved, the knowledge being
spread widens and grows. And with people
now having an increased level of knowledge and awareness on environmental
matters, this will definitely help in institutionalizing workable measures to
help protect the environment. Thank you
for your continued interest in my blogs and articles. Please join in the discussion too.
Comment
No. 4: “Hi Anton, I am just wondering if you actually make money with your
advocacy. People do things for a reason.
I’m sure you have yours.”
Thank
you so much for the comment/question.
Sometimes I also wonder if there is money to be made in pursuing an
advocacy… a relatively unpopular one for that matter. Please allow me to say that there is more
than money in a pro-environment advocacy such as an improved quality of life
for the present and future generation.
This is an intangible benefit that cannot be measured in pesos and
centavos. Allow me also to say that (to
me) there are other more important concerns than money… such as: (1) I am
grateful to have been blessed by God with a little knowledge which I now want
to unselfishly share; and, (2) I want to influence young minds on what I think
are ideal for they are the direct beneficiaries of the future. You and I may no longer be here to enjoy the
rewards of a healthy planet, but your children and grandchildren and mine
will. Thank you so much for your
continued interest in my blog and articles.
I
should say that I have no illusions of grandeur and, more often, I have a
tendency not to think beyond “just my little thoughts” and truths. But we need not look at a pro-environment
advocacy as a complex undertaking. It
could also be an ordinary day-to-day conscious effort like the simple act of
picking up a candy wrapper… something most of us will consider ordinary.
Just
my little thoughts…
(Please
visit, like and share Pro EARTH Crusaders and Landscape Ecology UPOU on
Facebook or follow me at http://antonantonio.blogspot.com/ )
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