Before I start, I have a question for

everybody here. Raise your hand if

anybody knows what the 3R's
consist of! Thank you. Yes, reduce,
reuse and recyle. Those 3 particular
words have been used for school
speeches, school events, posters,
environment documentaries and
much more. We've been mentioning
them since years ago but guess
what, climate change is hitting the
planet faster than scientists
originally thought! The negative
impacts are mounting much faster
than what was predicted less than a
decade ago. "We have 10 years left
to save the world" Says climate
expert. So from all those media
posts dedicating around saving the
earth are just bark not bite? Is the
term 'Reuse, reduce and recyle'
overrated?

Well, Assalamu'alaikum Wr. Wb.

Good morning ladies and
gentlemen, honorable
judges and all of my new friends
who are participating in this speech
contest. My name is Keira Alifia
Khairunnisa from MTs
Pembangunan UIN Jakarta,
standing here before you all to
deliver my speech revolving around
the theme 'Has the media educated
people enough about climate
change?'

I am completely sure that everyone

have atleast listened to 2 speeches
on how to help the earth or how to
stop global warming. And I'm sure,
they would always mention the
cliché 'Reuse, reduce and recyle'.
But does it actually help?

Hear me out, over the last decade,

we've had many companies step up
to claim they participate in recycling
their waste or sell products made
from recycled materials. And we feel
all warm and fuzzy inside when
buying these products, believing
that
we're playing our part to reduce our
impact on the environment. But
what companies have managed to
stop us noticing is that recycling is
supposed to be a last-resort option,
not the default one when it comes to
dealing with waste.

Reduce, reuse and recycle. They

might seem equally important but
they’re really not, and they were
never meant to be. Focusing solely
on recycling is the version which
companies have exploited to
perpetuate the myth that recycling is
as good as the other two options,
which helps them convince you to
maintain your consumption
patterns, and their pockets, at the
expense of the environment and our
futures. It’s at the point where they
can convince you that buying a
product made from recycled
materials is almost better for the
environment than not buying any
product.
But here’s the thing, the 3 R’s were
originally meant to be a process
with if-else statements rather than
three options you have to choose
from at the same time. If you can’t
do Step 1 then do Step 2. If Step 2
is not possible, then do Step 3

And now let's go back to the

question i asked, do the 3R's help?
Infact, yes it does. if you can't
reduce, then reuse. And if you can't
reuse, then recycle. Think of it like
this, the less you throw away, the
less you buy because your needs
are fulfilled by your re-used items.

Now that something that's overrated

is solved, let's talk about something
underrated! This is a quite an
unknown method on how to save
the earth, although I see this as the
bare minimum, this generation is
already obsessed on what's
going on on the screen anyways.
Yep, reducing screen-time actually
helps. Think about it, being on your
device for hours and not connecting
towards nature, you might be
reading some essay about climate
change but all of that doesn't matter
when you don't feel connected to
nature! You might be doing the 3R's
on a daily basis but are you actually
doing it for our environment or for
trends?

Let's reduce our screen-time and

explore outside, even if it's just a
park. And no, Kai or Jason isn't
going to spam you on Discord about
playing Valorant together, because
they know you have a life, but if
they don't, then prove it. It's
honestly embarrassing to brag
about being on the internet 24/7, am
I right?

Well, ladies and gentlemen. I think

this is the end of my speech, thank
you so much
for your attention. But before I end
my speech, let me quote 'Small
actions can produce big changes'
so let's take action. My name is
Keira Alifia Khairunnisa, have a nice
day and Wassalamu'alaikum Wr.
Wb.