Remember that awesome kids television show Captain Planet?  Just like most other people my age, I know that my brother, sister and I know the theme tune off by heart (’Captain Planet, he’s our hero, gonna take pollution down to zero…’ etc etc) and we have been known to break into song whenever someone wearing a Planeteer-esque ring is in the general vicinity.  Jumping around yelling, ‘Earth! Fire! Wind! Water! Heart! The power is yours!’ is also good fun.  It doesn’t endear you to the neighbours but you do have a fun time pretending to save the world from ‘lootin’ and polluting’.

It’s a pity that Captain Planet re-runs aren’t being broadcast on free-to-air television channels so that a new generation of kids can benefit from such wisdom as: ‘plant a tree!’, ’save the whales’, ‘turn off the tap’ and ‘if you are a Catholic or Protestant living in Ireland please stop fighting!’ (perhaps that last one was relevant in the 1990’s…).   I know that I have Captain Planet partially to thank for being as environmentally aware as I am, although I would never profess to being a green expert.  For years we’ve tried to do little things for the environment, like recycling, collecting water (in tanks and from the shower), keeping a compost bin for kitchen rubbish, purchasing green electricity, and trying to keep the water and electricity bills down.  I’m beginning to realise, however, that these small contributions aren’t even close to enough, and that our lives are going to have to change significantly.

I know that Rob has lofty ideals about buying some land and converting it back to rainforest, and my Mum has similar feelings.  My Dad and I both want to be self-sufficient with our own water and electricity stores, and all four of us (and many of our friends and family) are passionate about local produce.  But how far does this take us?  We are all guilty of international and domestic air travel several times a year.  None of us drive hybrid cars (although as I understand it hybrids aren’t as efficient as they should be).  We don’t plan our car trips so that we can get as much done in one trip as possible.  We don’t have a solar panel on our roof for lighting or water-heating, and our home was built before the term ‘energy-efficient’ had any meaning.  There are still some non-energy-efficient light-bulbs lurking in our houses, and we all have (and use all day, every day) our own laptops.  As aware as we all are of the environment, of decreasing carbon emissions, of becoming more self-sufficient, and of being smarter about our waste and recycling, we are all still guilty of being unwilling to make big changes.

The ‘7:30 Report’ stated last night that Australia will have to cut its carbon-fuel emissions by 90% in the next fifty years, but I personally can’t see how that is even close to being achievable, even with every Australian agreeing that it sounds like a good idea.  What will it take for us - as global citizens - to jump into action and start making the changes?  We are all aware of the environment and it’s dire need for help, but like children watching television, we seem to be waiting for a super-hero to swoop in at the last minute and do the saving for us.