radiation Day Strategic Digital
The Day I Realized the Earth Was Getting Sick
I didn’t need a news report to tell me something was wrong with the planet. I saw it in the orchard where the apples I grew up eating suddenly lost their sweetness. I felt it when the summer heat burned my skin in May, a month that once carried cool winds. I heard it in the silence of mornings, when the sparrows that used to sing on my window were gone.
The Earth doesn’t fall sick overnight. It whispers, it warns, it waits — until one day, we notice, and by then it feels almost too late.
Everyday Signs We Ignore
Environmental problems are often spoken about with big words — climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution — but we see them every day without realizing.
♦ The river we once played near now smells of garbage.
♦ The air that fills our lungs carries smoke from vehicles and factories.
♦ The rains arrive at the wrong time, ruining farmers’ crops.
♦ Winters feel shorter; summers last forever.
For adults, these changes are memories of “how things used to be.” For us, they are becoming normal. And that is frightening.
Why This Generation Feels It Deeply?
People say youth are always on their phones, but maybe that’s why we notice more. Every day we scroll through images of burning forests, flooded cities, animals trapped in plastic. It’s impossible to look away when the planet’s pain fits in your pocket.
And it’s personal. We are the ones who will live through the future these changes create. When we dream about college, jobs, and families, we are also quietly wondering: Will there be clean air to breathe? Will food become scarce? Will my children see the same stars I do?
The Weight and the Hope
Yes, it feels heavy. Sometimes I wonder, Can my small actions even matter? But then I remember: big changes have always started small.
A single girl sat outside her parliament with a protest sign, and the Fridays for Future movement began.
A teenager invented edible spoons to reduce plastic.
Students in my own school started a recycling drive that inspired parents to do the same at home.
These are reminders: we don’t need to wait to grow older or richer to make a difference. We only need to start.
What We Can Do, Together
• Solutions don’t have to be complicated:
• Say no to single-use plastic.
• Plant trees, yes, but also protect the ones already growing.
• Save water as if it were gold — because it is.
• Speak up when you see waste or pollution.
• Learn about the environment in school, and teach your family what you learn.
Even simple changes — carrying our own bottles, switching off unused lights, reusing instead of throwing away — can inspire others. When one person does it, it’s small. When a million do it, it’s a movement.
A Personal Promise
I am still learning. I make mistakes. But I have promised myself to care, to speak, and to act. Not because I want awards or recognition, but because I want to answer my future children honestly when they ask, “What did you do when the Earth was getting sick?”
A Call to You
► If you’re reading this, you have a choice too. We can’t wait for governments or billionaires to fix everything. We, the youth, must lead with our voices and our habits. Because if we don’t, who will?
♦ The planet has given us life, beauty, and endless gifts. It is time we give something back — before it’s too late.
By: MARIA AMMARA
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