I remember first hearing about the Amazon fire burning rapidly when I was visiting Dubai over the summer. Being so far away from the situation, I felt like I was in a bubble. The people around me were not panicking, the airport traffic was moving slow without much concern about the state of the planet. While I appeared to be calm on the outside, inside I was mad and anxious. What does this mean for our future? What can I do? I thought about everything I did that contributed to my carbon footprint. Flying on a plane was definitely one of them. However, I realized that I could not give that up, how was I supposed to get home or travel to other places in the future? I realized that the things that I could change was my diet and energy usage. So I promised to do anything I could to help on my end. I went vegan. And when people ask why, I always reply for the environment. It was not as difficult of a transition than I thought. I was already a vegetarian (and had been for most of my life) however maintaining it over the last three months was harder than I thought. It took a lot of discipline, especially on the tough days where all I wanted was to eat pizza and ice cream. Explaining to my parents my dietary restrictions was also a very tough transition, they believed that I would not get enough adequate nutrition. Ironically, I found myself eating more vegetables and home cooked meals. I think that looking back in the few months and reevaluating how I wanted to contribute to the world was a great motivation for keeping me on track. This unintentional self-intervention may not help save the amazon, but helps me consciously thinking about the planet and its state. I plan on continuing this intervention for as long as I can. Doing this small step makes me feel better (not completely happy) but in a better state than the alternative.
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