By Juliana Di Leonardo
As creatures of habit, humans find great comfort in knowing what to expect with each season throughout the year. Springtime brings us showers to bring about flowers, summer brings the heat and outdoor activities, autumn brings warm beverages and sweater weather, and winter brings us snow, ice and indoor togetherness. Recently, Long Island has experienced some unusually wet weather, especially for August. During this time, things tend to dry up around us but instead, the weather has dumped so much water in such a short time that ponds and lakes have emptied due to the sudden delivery of rain. These beautiful and beloved parks are some of the most frequented on the island and it has become very sad and shocking to see the focal point of these natural areas gone.
Acharya Tulsi Ji (Photo provided by: Arvind Vora)
Some may say that the weather is just being weird but perhaps this is a reminder that climate change is more of an issue than we think. Often, I hear people make the argument that climate change is not a new thing, which is true, but it is still a legitimate concern. Our climate in the past has been changing slowly over many years but is now doing so at a much faster rate. The Earth is now struggling to recover from each consecutive blow administered by the wrath of Mother Nature. The damage we experience from these disasters takes a lot more time to heal from, but to help save the environment, a sense of urgency is needed.
The easiest way to address the climate crisis that we're currently experiencing is by taking into consideration our consumption of animal-based products. Animal agriculture is one of the biggest culprits in disrupting the balance of our Earth. People don’t realize, or instead turn a blind eye to, the atrocities that go on within factory farms. These farms are responsible for contaminating drinking water, deforestation, and more, all things that play a part in the disturbance of our planet.
For this week’s anuvrat, I encourage you to make more conscious decisions about the way you eat. When you are feeling powerless or hopeless about the state of the world, come back to your plate. Take control of how you spend your money and what you put in your mouth. In a world desperate for peace, begin with your plate. You have the power to make a change and it begins with you.
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Juliana Di Leonardo is the Vice President of Humane Long Island. She is a yoga and ballroom dance instructor, model, and artist. Her advocacy for animals exploited by the fashion industry was credited in the 2021 documentary “The Face of Fashion is Fear” and recognized by PETA with a Hero for Coyotes award. (Photo provided by author)
