Why not Simple Living?

Nowadays, people in Hong Kong are wealthier than before so we may pursue for a more comfortable and luxurious lifestyle. As a result, we may have obsessive wants. Many people in Hong Kong shop excessively in order to keep up with the trend. For example, people buy lots of cloths but many of them are never worn. People change their mobile phones frequently.

However, such way of living is not sustainable to the environment. In fact, we are facing lots of environmental problems that caused by unsustainable lifestyle. According to the Greenpeace survey report, Hongkong people discard 110,000 tons of textile in a year which causes serious solid waste problem. Plastic wastes and electronic wastes pollute the land, rivers and oceans. Also, the rainforests in the world are disappearing due to excessive logging for making products. These environmental problems are very serious and they are threatening to animals and humans.

Then, how to save the Earth? The answer is simple. Staring from today, we should practise ‘simplie living’. Simple living is characterized by individuals being satisfied with what they have rather than want. Gandhi, who was regarded as the Father of the Nation in India suggested: ‘nature has provided sufficiently for everyone. There is enough for everyone’s need, but not for everyone’s greed.’ To practice simple living, we need to distinguish between ‘need’ and ‘want’.

Here are some suggestions to achieve simple lifestyle. The most important way is we should reduce our consumption. Only buy what you need instead of what you want. It can minimise the exploitation of resources and creation of wastes. It can also save money. Moreover, we can eat simpler and buy local ingredients to minimize our carbon footprint. If it is possible, we can even grow our own food to achieve self-sufficiency. These methods are easy to practice and they are beneficial to the environment. Shungtakians, let’s have a simple living!

Let’s take out the prayer book and turn to page 68. We will say the prayer 49: ‘Prayer for the protection of the environment’.

Mr. Wong C. L.
6 December 2021