2020 as a whole

So, we all know the main defining features from this year and how each aspect has impacted everybody differently. From a pandemic to riots, this yea

r really has had it all. But have we learnt anything from it? We still are destroying our planet daily and expecting other people to fix it for us.

It all starts from that piece of litter you may have thrown on the floor earlier, You see, it's the small things that make a difference. Because it won't just be you who threw litter on the floor it will be someone else too, but if you put yours in the trash, it's something else that (hopefully) won't end up in the worlds oceans.

Black lives matter movement

The BLM occurred from may 2020 - present (October 2020) they were triggered by the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota USA.

There are so many events that happen because of somebody's race and that is crazy, in this day and age with the things we have learnt from the major evets of the year. You would think at this point we would be equal to one another. Why should one's skin colour define them as a person? It's crazy. I also see too many videos of children crying because their skins pigment could get them murdered, even if they are innocent.

George Floyd "I can't breathe"

The police officer on his neck would have heard this crying chant, and had no reason to restrain him in such an animalistic manner. Although George was not innocent, he still didn't deserve that treatment. The reason for him not being innocent is because he used a counterfeit bill to pay for cigarettes in the store, and used his height as an intimidating tool against other people within the store, despite this he didn't deserve to be murdered.

The act was predominantly racial and should have been sorted in a much more fair and kind manner.

Breonna Taylor

Breonna Taylor was shot on Friday 13th March 2020 in her apartment in Louisville, Kentucky USA.

She was shot during a drug raid of her apartment - she was innocent and there were no such substances found within the building. She also didn't receive any justice for months, and only got any due to months of fights and riots for her and George Floyd.

Something I ask about these murders is, what happened at the scene that wasn't publicised, the media warps situations very quickly. So is there anything else in the story that we don't know. As well as this, what would the situation have been if George and Breonna were white? Personally I feel the situation would have been so much different and the two wouldn't know be dead. It's outrageous but the truth. That even in our society there is still so much racism that occurs.

I see a lot "people don't believe covid - 19, racism and homophobia exist unless it has impacted them personally" which is a crazy mindset to have about the different situations.

COVID-19

The main feature of 2020 has been covid- 19. It has impacted everybody's lives, each in a different way and some more than others. Schools closing for 6 months, very little work going on, and hundreds of thousands of deaths on a daily basis. It has been an awful time to live in, not only have we had so many deaths from this, suicide rates have gone up massively as well (which I feel a lot of people are being naïve about).

We need to start working together to get this sorted, social distance and wear a mask. It's not a lot but it will help us get back to normal faster. This situation isn't forever however it will be dragged on if we don't start listening to the rules and restrictions put into place by the government. In the vast scheme of things this is a small portion of our lives but so many people don't see this.

So many young people are having teen years taken off them, and losing their self in a drowning degree of mental health issues. The raised anxiety of just going to school, it takes just one person to have it in school for the entire school to get it if cleaning procedures aren't good enough.

It seems to me as though the vast majority of people haven't learnt anything from our situation. I still walk around and see masks on the floor and other traces of litter. The litter doesn't exactly come into the pandemic but it causes other issues, such as an increase in pollution, which will cause more issues stemming off it. As well as this (as I said before) so many people are ignoring restrictions and "waiting for 2021" but what's the point? Wait for another month as if suddenly everything will stop the second this year ends. Of course it won't if we stay how we are it will just get worse, we can't keep living in this mindset that it's just this year, no it's not a year it's us humans. We keep destroying our planet as if somebody else can magically fix it. That's not how this works, yet we are being too blind. We need to open our eyes because if we stay on this path we could lead ourselves to our graves in a matter of years. Everyone is so scared to do what they believe is right due to societal image, but you know what? Getting up and speaking your mind and making your own choices, while it may not seem like much now, if you keep doing this then in the long run it will be worth it.

Open your eyes

Follow restrictions and wear a mask for the greater good. For others and yourself, it may be the only way to get out of this situations. It's not much but it could do so much.

Wildfires and pollution

As we all know globally there have been hundred of wildfires in the past year. The huge ones in Australia and now the ones in California. This year really does have it all.

Wildfires of course have a lot of smoke and damaging properties - potentially even worse than a housefire. If you look at photos and videos from Americans, you can see there is a massive amount of pollution, many states have red - orange skies, and are covered with pollution and ash. As these fires worsen it is becoming more detrimental. Look at the news from the past few days:

"California wildfires spawn first 'gigafire' in modern history"

"California fires set bleak record as 4m acres are destroyed"

This is crazy, a few years ago we never had anything like this, even weather issues such as hurricanes in the UK were rare, now they occur multiple times a year. We can't keep pointing fingers and blaming one another or 2020, because how much time have we got left to fix this mess? We keep blaming others or the year but we won't be the ones to actually do something, even if it's something small like use your voice and get your opinion heard.

We can't carry this game on because we will just kill ourselves. We are being blind and naïve.

If you look up real time pollution level maps, the globe in predominately at around 15-50 which is relatively healthy. But areas of the globe are 500-800+ (500 is hazardous) for some countries this is higher than any record shows in history.

We need to work together to fix this mess and it starts from small things such as:

-Walk or cycle if you can - avoid driving

-Buy a reusable water filter - not bottled water

-Don't litter

-Have plants/grass in your garden

-Don't have an excessive amount of bonfires

You see each of these things may seem so small however if we all do them it could make a huge difference, this is what we need to understand. It doesn't matter the scale of what you're doing because even if it's small it will have some degree of impact, whether it's big or small.