There is this little blue planet called Earth that revolves around the sun alongside eight other planets. It is the third from the sun and it is full of life. It has blue skies and white clouds. At times those clouds have smiling faces on sunny days and can make furrows in the skies. On some days you can see the clouds form the shape of a heart, a person playing basketball, a train running across the sky or the face of your favorite cartoon characters, Mickey, Tom or Jerry in the clouds. The same clouds at times grow dark and sad, then they cry and when they do, we call it rain. Earth has lots of green vegetation, and it is home to people like you and me. It is also home to many other creatures that live both in the sea and on the land, like our dog Bingo and our cat Alice. Of all the other planets, Earth is the only place we can call home, because its air allows us to live, unlike other planets.
Sadly, this is all changing and it is all because of our actions. To build our houses, we cut down trees for wood. To power our cars and light our homes, we burn fuel. We litter the environment with plastic bottles, papers and wrappings. We urinate and poop on the streets, in gutters and bushes. We dump heaps of dirt on our streets and into streams and at times under the bridges. We cut down trees and clear off green vegetation and we do not plant enough trees. All these things we are doing are turning our little green Earth into a little brown Earth and if we keep doing that, our Earth will become too hot for us to live in. Our streets will become too stinky and smelly to walk through. Our waters and seas will become too unclean to drink from, and the fish and other creatures of the sea will get sick and die. Our clear blue and white cloud-filled skies will become dark and cry sour rain on us. In the worst case, we and our animals will get sick and die.
Don’t be too sad anyway. There is a way you and I can make our earth green and lovely again. We can start by stopping the little bad habits of littering the environment with plastics. If you find someone littering, shame them for dirtying and destroying our Earth. If you use a bottle, plastic or wrappings of sweets and candy, put it in the waste bin. If there is no waste bin beside you, put it in your bag until you find the nearest bin and drop it there. Ask Mama and Papa to keep two separate bins at home, one for papers, wrappings, plastics and bottles and another for perishable waste like mango peels for example. We can use the perishable waste for manure in the garden which nourishes our plants and trees. This is a great way to give back to our Earth that gave us food to eat. For the non-perishable waste like plastics, it will be taken care of by the recycling and dirt collectors for good dumping. We should avoid urinating and pooping on the streets, in the gutters or in the bush. If you find someone doing it, tell them to use public toilets instead. We can plant a tree on our birthdays and take time to water and nurse it every day as we grow. It will give us fresh clean air to breath. We can also paint our Earth and talk about the things that make it sick in school during our arts and crafts projects and celebrate Earth days. To light our houses, we can use the power of the sun. Do you know of other great ways you and I can make our Earth green, breathable and home again? Share with me. I know you are smart and you have great ideas. I would love to hear them. Together, we can take care of our good, green Earth.
Read – Brown Mango – A Children’s Story by Nyiyongu Samuel, Nigeria
Love this children story. It packs a punch.
Very friendly and catchy.