So, I had to put a lot of serious thought into the idea of the “most pressing challenge facing the global environment.” At first it was obvious, well of course it’s population, there are just too many people and the planet simply doesn’t have the resources. Now granted, this is a very real challenge. The number of people already on this planet couldn’t possibly lead lives that have come to be the European/American standard. Of course, all of us could potentially lead simpler lives, but honestly, what good American would agree to that? These questions of population have moral implications and lead to serious conundrums about how to address the problems of development, but another time another story. Population is an honest challenge, but then I started thinking…is it really the worst? On top of that, isn’t choosing population a little clichéd? We did just read a bunch of articles about it for class.
So then I considered oceans. Now, there’s a catastrophe for you. Ocean’s and mangroves provide 50% of the oxygen we breathe and yet they’re the fastest depleting ecosystems in the world. Forests are good too, oxygen and biodiversity being lost at unimaginable rates. Oh, and what about climate change? Some scientists estimate that we’ve already passed the tipping point and now it’s only a matter of time until the whole world dissolves into the next ice age. So clearly, my options were not limited. As I thought about it, I realized that each of these challenges are very real, and very detrimental, hardly one being worse than the next. So I thought, “The most pressing environmental challenge is the one we most desperately need to fix if we want to survive. Which of these catastrophes can we turn around and truly expect things to start getting better?” Then it dawned on me, the most pressing challenge facing the global environment is the framing of the environmental movement.
Right now, people see the environmental movement in a lot of different ways…most of them bad. Some people see it as a bunch of pot-smoking-tree-huggers trying to cause a commotion, others see it as a bunch of hippies who care more about the animals then the people in their own community, and others just see environmentalists as the annoying people who make them sort their trash. In any case, it’s not a pretty picture. Environmental challenges need to be put into perspective for the average person. They have to be related to issues that people already care about, there need to be real incentives and viable alternatives, and finally environmentalists need to take into account the other, very real, problems that people have. Environmentalism needs to check out a few business models and learn a thing or two about advertising. And for god’s sake, could we all please agree about something?? Just once? (Agreeing among ourselves is a proven tactic, take the ozone layer for example!)
If environmentalism was advertised properly, it would be internalized, as evidenced by all the wonderful materialism and consumerist habits we see around us on a daily basis. Just imagine if the average American teenager recycled the way she shoe shopped – without even thinking about it. On top of that, responsible shopping would be a thing of the past, with time producers would only sell environmentally sustainable goods: you’re wish (which we hand fed you), is our demand. It’s time to put these business principals to work.
My point, interestingly enough, ties in perfectly with the NY Times article “I Am, Therefore I Pollute.” Clearly this guy’s biggest problems with the environmental movement were that he was cheap and lazy – but hey I’m a college student, I can relate. Environmental issues can be framed so that they don’t feel so much like work. They can be made cost effective in the long run if they’re done properly. People shouldn’t have to think so hard about being environmentally friendly, after all, we’re part of the environment, it should just come naturally.
Of course, this reframing of environmentalism as, perhaps, something more like “naturalism” is not something I expect to happen instantly. I do anticipate that it’s something that will start to change in my lifetime though. Big businesses are already trying to pass themselves off as “green,” however dishonestly. It doesn’t matter though, the fact that they’re saying it is putting the idea into people’s heads. It may not happen quickly enough but I think it’s the only place to start – and I still have hope. Environmentalists aren’t supposed to be optimistic…but that’s another conception I’m hoping won’t last.
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