I have mixed feelings after having seen the video “The story of stuff” by Annie Leonard. A part of the video leaves me sad and without hope, another part makes me want to march the streets and convince people to start acting.
It is up to average Joe
Whose responsibility is it to turn this destructive trend? Is it up to the individual or the collective? What kind of difference could a single man’s efforts make in the long run when the rest of the world keeps polluting the planet?
Environmental problems are global. Therefore, they need to be discussed and solved by the world’s political leaders. Unfortunately, we have a system in which you will not win any selections by working for environmental friendly changes.
I was optimistic about the success of the Swedish party “Miljöpartiet”. Finally the environmental issues would be discussed in the way they deserve! But, what happened to this topic during the election rally? Unfortunately it seems like the destiny of our planet is sometimes trendy to talk about and sometimes not, possibly in the same way that feminism is debated from time to time.
I guess that part of the explanation why environmental issues are only periodically debated, is that the suggested actions for saving our planet will crush the life we live today. The mere thought of having to change our lifestyle is exhausting and I believe that people easily get fed up with environmental enthusiasts. The greatest advocators of a shift of living are blamed to be idealists. "And we all know that idealists are naive children that do not know how the world works", people might say.
It is our fault, the fault of the average Joe, that speaking for a greener world is a possible political suicide mission. It is up to us to change the climate of the world and the climate of the political world. Our weapon in this battle is our vote. We should not under-estimate the power of voting.
Though, I am afraid that it is a pity that the future of the world lies in our hands. Sometimes I think that people in general are too dumb, too egocentric and too short-sighted to avoid this planet from going under. Hopefully I am wrong. One thing is for sure and that is that the initiative for this change must come from the people themselves. I think you can compare this subject to a drug addict's chances of being helped. The initiative must come from the junkie, otherwise nothing will happen.
Role model or not?
I am a bit surprised that our political leader, Mr Reinfeldt, has chosen not to aim higher when it comes to environmental goals for the future. He says that we should put our money in countries which have not reached the same point of environmental awareness as Sweden. A certain amount of money will make a bigger difference in a country that is less developed than Sweden.
BUT, as Sweden is at the front of the environmental struggle, we should show the rest of the world that we will not be satisfied with the achievements so far. We have the technology to lift the bar a couple of notches. This may be hard to motivate from an economic point of view but as far as public opinion goes, it will possibly have a greater effect than donating the same kind of money to developing countries. We should of course do both but we must not step down from the number one position.
Avatar is a great movie
I am studying for a bachelor in civil and rock engineering. Without any doubt this type of activities represents a great threat to Mother Earth. We deplete the natural resources of this planet and leave hideous wounds wherever we are passing through. This is why I found the plot in Avatar so interesting. For those of you who have not seen Avatar I can tell you that it is about a mining company that has established its business on a planet called Pandora. As the company expands and explores other areas on the planet, the sacred place of the inhabitants is in danger. For the greedy company this is not a problem. Avatar is not just a visually impressive movie. It also addresses some questions that a possible miner should keep in mind. I actually had a hard time to motivate how I could enter such a line of business. After some thinking I came to a crossroads - either you give up or you will make the best of the situation. We will always need minerals from the Earth’s crust. By trying to make this “surgical operation” as environmental friendly as possible, I will have a clear conscience and be able to sleep at night.
