My Sin: Pollution

Parts of his skin feel sore and hot. His wounds do not stop burning. He cannot bear the heat anymore. Other parts are wet, all of that water is too much for him. He cannot see anything, his eyes are covered with plastic. He cannot breathe anymore, the air around him is tainted and dirty. He is losing all of his energy. His blood is sucked out of his body. He screams, everyone hears him but no one helps him. Our planet earth is in danger, because of pollution.

And I am part of this pollution, I destroy and pollute my planet every day, every minute and every second. 

Environmental pollution is a mixture of harmful pollutants that interfere with natural processes and circulation in the environment. Various environmental pollutions are classified into water pollution, air pollution, soil pollution and noise pollution. Many industries produce solid and liquid wastes in large quantities, and many human-caused problems such as toxic emissions, deforestation, and global warming are the major causes of increased environmental pollution. Over the past decade, levels of pollution have increased significantly and scenarios have become worse than before. I am a part of the pollution. The truth is that I am killing the planet. My worst sin is pollution, or should I even say murder? I mean, I am killing the planet and everything that lives on it.

When I went to breakfast at my boarding school today, I ate from a plastic plate, drank out of a plastic cup and used a plastic fork. It felt like eating from a plate that is greased with the poison of a deadly snake. When I keep on thinking about this, I realize that this is actually true. This plate was poisonous, poisonous for the planet, the planet that I am living on. Why do I poison my planet? Just because I am too lazy to clean a plate, a fork and a cup?

I know that I am going to eat lunch from a new plastic plate, and dinner too. Two more lethal injections. For breakfast yesterday, I had fresh, juicy pineapple that delighted all of my sins. But the 7,000 kilometers this pineapple has traveled did not delight my planet’s sins. I am destroying it because I want to be satisfied. And there is so much more I do knowing that it shots an arrow directly in the earth’s heart:

I drink bottled water;
I throw chewing gum on the ground;
I leave the tap running while I brush my teeth;
I eat foods that contain palm oil;
I throw batteries in the rubbish;

I pollute the planet. I am responsible for global warming. I am a sinner. My sin is deadly.

Some people believe that everyone can be freed from a sin. I do not think that I can be freed from mine. Mine cannot be undone because it has left to many deep marks and wounds. Removing these hurting arrows is impossible but I could stop shooting even more of them. For some reason, I do not, I will never stop. I know that there is so much I could do to help the planet. But instead, I destroy it more and more every day and I am conscious. I believe that everyone is selfish. Everyone. Whenever somebody does or says something, in some way or another, it is for their benefit. Even actions we take are for our own benefit. I will be friendly towards someone because I want them to be my friend, which would result in my happiness. I will be empathetic and sympathetic because then I can think of myself as that kind of person, which will result, again, in my happiness. I think this would also explain why I pollute the planet. Things that make me happy and my life more comfortable are often bad for the planet. Taking my car instead of my bike, eating foods that have already seen more of the world than I have and buying all of these pretty clothes…. There is so much that satisfies me but kills the planet at the same time. Logically, killing the planet also means killing me which is definitely not satisfaction. But my brain does not think about that, it strives for short-term satisfaction, not caring about the future. In conclusion, the reason for my sin, pollution, is my stupid greed that is destroying the habitat of plants and animals, including myself. 

The reality is that I am killing the earth and everything on it, including myself. My waste is destroying ecosystems on a daily basis. Animals, plants and the atmosphere are affected in the worst possible way. In addition, my health is deteriorating as many diseases occur due to environmental pollution. I burn the garbage to get rid of it, but in the end, I pollute the air, I bury it, but in the end, I destroy the soil, which in turn damages the flora; I throw it into the oceans but end up hurting marine life.  This is my worst sin which will continue getting worse. I have been carrying this sin for my whole life and I will never get rid of it until the day my own sin is killing me.