How to Better the Planet One Small Step at a Time
By: Liam Walsh
Tags: Environment, Rant, Environmental Solutions, Earth

Intro to Environmental Action

Many people want to take environmental action but not many people know how to contribute towards the environment or people are too wrapped up in their day to day life that they don’t have enough time. Time is always of the essence, especially when talking about the time left of our planet, and lots of people do not realize how their individual choices can impact the world around them. The dwindling ecosystems on earth is occurring as a biproduct of human existence and if we wish to tackle this issue we need to make people care about the environment.

This assumption that not everyone cares about the environment may seem like a bold claim but I assure you the needs of the planet only comes after the needs of modern society. If all 8 Billion people on this planet cared about the environment then there would be no problem in the first place. The main issue I want to discuss is the expectations for people in a post-modern industrial country. In this setting a model citizen is expected to wake up, go to work, sleep and repeat; although many people may experience their daily routine in a different manner this is what it boils down to. People get too caught up in this routine and in their personal lives that we often forget to step back and look at the bigger picture. Nowadays people are too disconnected from the real world because of the development of modern technology that we take nature and all the beautiful life around us for granted. This dysconnectivity is what I want to talk about in my paper. The big question is how do we form a society of disconnected individuals into caring environmental people?

How your Behaviors Affect your Children

From the time you are born to the time when you get out of pre-school are crucial years for the development of children’s behaviors, habits and social interaction skills. Babies imitate their parents, like a baby goose would a mother goose, and other adults behaviors automatically so that they can get a sense of the world and the way the world works. An example of this is when babies try to imitate talking on a phone by grabbing any immediate object and using it as you would a phone. Unfortunately however this is also how children pick up their parent’s and other adult’s bad habits. If a parent or a close relative shows any sort of attitude or behavior involving un-environmentally friendly actions then the child will most likely copy those actions and bring these ideologies to the next generation.

Photo by vivek kumar on Unsplash

The solution to combating this un-environmental behavior is by reshaping authoritarian figures perspective on the environment (Parents, Elementary school teachers, CEO’s & local government policy makers). First I want to start off by demonstrating how parents can contribute towards healthier environmental behavior. Parents need to actively teach their kids the importance of recycling and the importance of caring for life on earth. These aspects of life are often overlooked by parents since they themselves have become disinterested in the world around them. Parents should teach kids the responsibility of plant life by making them take care of a small plant at a very young age or by helping out watering and caring for the plants and trees in the back yard. If parents show their children how to love and care for the environment this will lead to a better educated generation that is interested in environmentalism and environmental action.

How Society can Contribute towards Environmentalism

Elementary school teachers can also bring a lot of influence to the table. In my elementary school we had a program called “Kids Excel”, which was a choreographic performance company that would teach kids the usage of reduce, reuse and recycle through choreography and song. This is a perfect example of what elementary schools aught to do to incentivize environmental behavior from a young age. Another way elementary schools can help is by having sections of science period dedicated to the importance of preserving the planet, I understand that a lot of administrative work goes into changing a curriculum, however children would really benefit by observing and participating in small environmental projects.

The next set of stake holders on this topic may seem odd at first but as I will demonstrate they do bring lots of influence to both children and adults alike. CEO’s of companies are often portrayed as the “bad guys”, many corporations only seek for environmental growth and the betterment of the company and in many senses this is true. Capitalism incentivizes for competitive open markets which eventually leads towards a rat race towards cheap labor and most effective way towards making a product. Thinking about the environment is never a contributor towards corporate decision making, but how will we change these CEO’s viewpoint on the world you may ask? My answer to that is by the time the old generation dies out and with the new resurgence of the environmentally thoughtful younger generation we will be able to change corporations across the globe. The same can be applied to policy makers, if we the people elect governing officials that peak our best interest, in this case environmentalism, then we can one step at a time lead a better life towards a healthier planet.

Concerns & Consultations

I know some of my later solutions that I have talked about may be asking for too much and may seem too perfect of a scenario. There are many people out there that are unwilling to change and choose to live life through ignorance about the environment. Many people will pass on their bad behaviors to their children and then their children’s children which will bring in a worse breed of people for the climate. However, I remain optimistic about my argument. Even though I have not provided an immediate solution for solving climate change I believe it is a good start. Parents and adults without children can practice being environmental by simply starting out by not buying plastic water bottles or by putting their trash away in the correct bin.

I want to make it clear that small changes can make a big difference in the world. Even though a small action like helping an individual up from falling down the stairs doesn’t make the world a better place that person will remember that act of kindness for the rest of their lives. If we can start by making the next generation of teachers, policy makers and CEO’s care for the life around them and to treat the world with care then maybe we could spark new innovative changes that will make the world a better place.