A Campaign to Fight Environmental Degradation, Inspired by L. Ron Hubbard

Scientologists from the Church of Scientology Mission of Naples, Italy, take action to safeguard and improve the environment.

This weekend, as they have each week since the summer, volunteers from the Church of Scientology Mission of Naples, Italy, and community partners put their backs into reclaiming waste at Camaldoli Park in Naples and the Via Giordano Bruni Plaza in Marano.

 

To contribute to their initiative, a neighbor donated a brush cutter, making it much easier for them to weed the parks. New volunteers also joined the campaign this weekend, wishing to dedicate some of their free time to care for the environment.

With only two hours each weekend, they have considerably improved the appearance of the two green spaces they’ve adopted.

The initiative was born last summer after the smell of burning rubbish awakened the project leader, Pascal. Rubbish was burning nearby and its smoke filled his entire home. He realized that if this could happen here, it must be far worse in other neighborhoods. He had to take action. 

He decided to raise awareness about ecological irresponsibility. He wanted to make the point that we all need to work together to fight environmental degradation and care for the planet. 

L. Ron Hubbard’s book, The Way to Happiness inspired Pascal’s initiative. The book includes the precept, “Safeguard and Improve Your Environment.” It states:

“There are many things one can do to help take care of the planet. They begin with the idea that one should. They progress with suggesting to others they should.

“Man has gotten up to the potential of destroying the planet. He must be pushed on up to the capability and actions of saving it.

“It is, after all, what we’re standing on.”

World Wildlife Fund states, “We are using 25 percent more natural resources than the planet can sustain.” We have degraded enough ecosystems to harm the wellbeing of at least 3.2 billion people. That means 40 percent of the world’s population.

This level of “reduced biodiversity means millions of people face a future where food supplies are more vulnerable to pests and disease, and where fresh water is in irregular or short supply.”

According to the United Nations:

• Every three seconds the world loses enough forests to cover a football field. 
• In 2020 alone, we destroyed 4.2 million hectares (10,378,426 acres) of primary forests. 

We need these forests to protect biodiversity. And forests also stem climate change. 

In the last century:

• We have destroyed half of the wetlands of the planet. 
• We have caused 50 percent of coral reefs to disappear. 
• At this rate, by 2050, we could lose 90 percent of these vital ecosystems.

What’s more, by destroying ecosystems such as forests and peatlands, we deprive the world of vital carbon sinks. Carbon sinks are natural or manmade reservoirs that accumulate and store carbon-containing chemical compounds. The reason they are vital is that they lower the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. 

Pascal’s initiative is sponsored by the Church of Scientology Mission of Naples, Italy. And the volunteers intend to continue raising awareness of this urgent situation through their cleanup activities. 

Scientology Churches and Missions around the world sponsored chapters of The Way to Happiness Foundation. Many of them hold cleanups to help keep their communities clean and raise awareness of the importance of caring for the environment.