Veronica participated in the Training Course “One Earth, One Chance” organized by PROJUVEN in Benalmádena, Spain
Hello Veronica! Can you give us your opinion about the project “One Earth, One Chance“ and Erasmus + experience?
The “One Earth, One Chance” project was about sustainability and climate change in general. We have covered several topics, such as what is footprint and how to decrease the creation of it to avoid the acceleration of climate change and all the damage it creates.
In the various activities we have been divided into groups to collaborate in discussions; an activity that has been particularly impressive to me is the one where we have been given nations with the task of making agreements with as many countries as possible. It was funny but at the same time difficult, because there were countries (as it happened to my group) that were small islands and therefore with few resources to trade, and, others for example Russia that has not had many agreements because the U.S.A have done everything to boycott them etc… This makes us understand how unfortunately the road is long and it is almost impossible in my opinion to fight climate change, because in order to succeed in an impossible mission making it possible all of us should collaborate.
Einstein once said :”the world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch without doing anything”. The problem is that there are too many people who think, “Someone else will take care of it,” and that’s why Earth, humanity don’t have much time. We must act now, together.
About Erasmus + experience, for me is always a pleasure to participate in because you can compare your opinion with people with different backgrounds, education, nation ecc… and you can improve yourself, your mind, you can change some opinions and it is important to evolve.
What are some of the biggest challenges you see in addressing climate change, and how do you think we can overcome them?
The biggest challenges are limiting the creation of carbon footprint (using less possible car or public transports; smoking cigarettes etc…); dispose of properly separate collection, do not pollute water, meadows and environments. If each of us were more responsible, trying to use eco-friendly machines and/or means; not throwing garbage on the ground, not throwing plastic overboard, tuna oil in the sink (many people are not aware of the damage that a single drop of oil can do to the sea and the rivers); more delicate and complicated case but not of my competence is the disposal of toxic waste due to nuclear power plants for example (but this is a larger speech). What we can all do is be aware that man has destroyed this beautiful planet, and it is up to man to make up for his mistakes. If every day we are careful to keep or try to keep the world cleaner, the world will breathe again and we could leave to our children a better world.
What are some specific actions you plan to take to reduce your own carbon footprint and contribute to the fight against climate change?
I have the good fortune to live in a small independent house, in my street there are some houses with solar panels. Currently my house does not have them, but I am in talks with a company to be able to install them soon, so as to be more sustainable. Personally I am very precise when I make the separate collection, and, when I go to the sea for example I always carry with me garbage bags to clean the beach from plastic residues, glass etc… I try to use the car as little as possible (I rarely take public transports), usually I move on foot or by bike.
