Many may not think it, but I actually care incredibly about the environment. My current goal is to grow up and be an Environmental Engineer, not the regulation kind, the designing kind. I want to participate in the creation of a renewable energy resource, or find some way to purify salt water completely, I want to contribute to mankind's ongoing struggle to secure a place on this planet without in the process destroying it. Well, I guess one can say "Who doesn't care about the environment? I mean really?" I feel like it is too easy for us to say we care about something, to believe we care about something, but not really care about it.
Either way, that is not the topic of this post.
For us, here in the Western cities, surrounded by mankind and all it's ingenious inventions, it is easy to demand. We see these beautiful videos of beautiful places across Earth on Discovery, and we demand that they be preserved. We demand that people stop destroying the worlds biggest rain forest, we demand that people stop cutting down forestland for farmland, we demand that dam is not built, we demand the oil spill is cleaned up, we simply sit here and demand. Of course, we are used to getting those things we demand aren't we?
How naive and narrow minded we are.
Preserving the environment must be an incredibly complex issue, especially because of human beings who call that environment home. Think about the Amazon Rainforest, a large portion of that forest is being cut down for farmland. Yes, it disgusts me too, but put yourself in the eyes of the farmer. That farmer needs his land so that HE can survive, so that he can put food on the table of his family. For us with our fancy gadgets to just demand that he stop right there, that he stop trying to create a life, to live...? What right do we have to do that?
Think about it, who do you think appreciates the beauty of the Amazon Rainforest more? We, who see pictures and videos? or that farmer who sees it through his own eyes every day?
Fact of the matter, is that every human being that lives or has lived has had some sort of impact on the environment. It just happens to be that many of the ones trying to create a life right now are stopped by us who have already had ours created. Do you think our great grand fathers didn't cut down forests and destroy beautiful landscapes to exist? Of course they did, only they got away with it.
I often feel like the wrong people get blamed for destroying the environment, these farmers are just trying to make a life. It's better than those companies who are destroying Earth to make money.
To be honest, we all know that it's us who are the real problem. It all comes down to our over expenditure, our wastefulness, and our weak consumer minded willingness to buy into anything thrown at us by the corporations. The worst part? We don't do a thing about it, we just accept that we can't make a change as just one person, and that those big guys have to.
To be even more honest, there is only so much of a difference that we, as individuals can make. Not that we shouldn't try, but turning off the lights, sparing water, recycling and etc. Will make a difference, it really will if a large amount of people do it. It's something that we should all incorporate into our own lives, and in the end it all just becomes a habit.
This is the very least we can do, I see too many people litter, leave lights on, waste water in the washrooms, waste toilet paper like crazy, throw away paper without really using it, and leave their computers on all night (just look at MSN at 5 in the morning?)
HOWEVER, say a large portion of us who are ruining the environment took our baby steps to save it and actively participated to reduce our carbon footprint, it would not save Planet Earth. It is no reason not to do that, it's simply a matter of fact.
The fate of our planet lies solely in the hands of those who are in charge of our society. 1) The politicians 2) The corporations.
Notice something? Both of these are actually after your approval. Your opinion, and your money. Don't you think we can do something about that?
But the jist of it all, is that we are a greedy, greedy society. We can say that we want to save the environment all we want, but no one actually wants to give up lighting, heating, extra food, computers, cars and all of these other luxuries we enjoy.
No, I revise my self. The fate of our planet lies solely in the hands of scientists. Technology is mankind's only real hope. I agree, technology has contributed greatly to the destruction of the environment, but we have progressed far enough that it can save it too. As a race, we must unite and open our eyes.
But what do we do? How can technology save all of humanity, when all funding is spend on wars and military to destroy it?
Human Beings need to realize that these borders that divide us were implemented by us. They mean absolutely nothing to Mother Earth. They are nothing more than psychological barriers that plead to our inner pride, they will be our eventual doom. Divided we fall, and fall we will. Humanity needs to learn to collectively think as one, the potential our race has is immense. We are already so much farther along than any other species on Earth because of ability to think collectively. But we must not ruin our gift through division amongst ourselves. Division of any sorts, race, religion, sex, and most importantly countries.
If we are to live, every country needs to lay down it's arms and become peaceful enough to really and truly invest in saving the environment.
