Be a Leader
I am 99.9% sure that at the very least one person acknowledges the negative impact that capitalist companies have the world in more ways than one. With that being said, are you a part of that capitalist company that has enough power to speak up and make a change? If so, this message is for you and if not, it’s still for you. In so many articles that I have read during my semester taking a Rhetoric of Environmental Action class, I have discovered the fact that beneficial practices such as: small businesses, strict recycling programs, local awareness, and social media are not realistic tools necessary in making a big impact on worldwide environmental issues for people who don’t hold power, and this is not a discouraging realization. We can still make an impact and try and encourage and fight for change. We all know that giving people too much power is never a good idea. It is important to keep people level-headed and working together for the greater good of people and our environment. With that being said, as much as it hurts me to say that your everyday people are basically powerless to these corporations and the horrific carbon footprints and working conditions they allow, it doesn’t hurt to try and make them realize their impact and take responsibility for their actions and I want everyone to realize that there are some solutions that we can try and bring to their attention. When I say that we are powerless, I don’t mean that we can’t do absolutely anything about it literally, I just mean that as much as I talk about it to others and try to buy products and clothing from small businesses and brands I truly trust, that isn’t going to stop the works pf these companies. The people in power of these companies are the ones who call the shots and even if they weren’t making money, they are still causing damage and harm to their workers and other ways we might not even know about. There is always something we can do, and my suggestions are of course never limited to.
Of course, contributing to small businesses and unwell known businesses is always a great idea. There are an abundant number of options that are easily accessible to us in every way that provide anything and everything that we could possibly need. We just have to want to make the change for ourselves, our environment, and the health and safety of others. Especially if you are someone who has a decent income and can really afford all the options of making a difference and even if you don’t have a steady income, there are so many alternatives to our typical purchase sites that we don’t even know exist. With research, heart, and dedication you can easily find so many different resources available to you that can help you make a difference without breaking your bank account. These options include, but of course are not limited to DIY’s, Etsy, and other apps that are giving regular people the opportunity to sell and offer services that you would usually spend on big companies. Making small changes can still help make a difference and are still important in not contributing to causes such as fast fashion, plastic pollution, and other negative corporation services. However, when someone in power takes part in changes like this, they set the bar for their co-workers and can make a change within the business and make people question their positions within these companies and how their roles impact a chain reaction of unfortunate events.
I’m not one to count on other people’s emotions to make a change though. As nice as it would be for people to hold each other accountable I know that people make their own decisions and don’t really care about the consequences that they cause that hurt others, so I think we need more rules and regulations to follow that will really hold companies accountable for their actions and that is by passing a law that allows a team of environmentalist scientists, designers, and health care workers to be a part of corporations business plans to ensure that we are not causing any harm to our environment, workers, or customers. I think that environmentalists should be able to “calculate” how much damage each blueprint would cause and try to work out solutions to minimize as much harm to our environment as possible. Designers should be able to give the customers the most for their money and provide and find solutions to produce decently made clothing that wouldn’t have as much of an effect that our current fast fashion clothing does. Health care workers and other qualified people should be able to approve and disapprove working conditions and regulate the environment to make sure that it is always in regulation of positive and well working conditions for the workers. I also believe that all of this should be paid for by the government. We already have the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which is obviously not enough in some places. Along with these safety guidelines, we should also provide these laws and services to whatever factories and warehouses the shipment comes from in other countries. If we are buying products from these places, then we should be ensuring that we are buying from companies that are trustworthy and ethical. We shouldn’t be buying products from companies that are contributing to world issues and things that would be considered in the United States because we are still guilty of contributing to that behavior that we would know is illegal. The government should be willing to pay for these services to ensure the health, safety, and well-being not only for the workers, but for the environment as well. They would be doing a great service to our planet and would stall global warming by just being more ethical and wanting to make a difference.
These are just a few ideas that we can target people in power to start thinking about. Even if their solutions are different or incorporate different styles of action, we just need more powerful people on the inside, on our side. Getting people together to brainstorm ideas would spark so many brilliant ideas that one brain probably wouldn’t even think of. The power of our minds is unbelievable, and people of power have so many resources easily accessible to them to make an unimaginable difference that we just need to show them. They need to see what they can do how much this be benefiting them in the end anyway. Even if it is for more money or aesthetics or reputation, people fall in line of others and are followers and there are so many ways to get people to jump on the bandwagon that money will never be an issue. We just have to get people to care first and that is sadly the hardest part of all.
