Change in my Climate
I imagine my morning ritual is similar to many others my age. Check my phone, read all the typical b-s that take up my social media pages. Another story about a ridiculous thing the president said, another celebrity scandal, or another article about how we only have a few years left to do something about climate change before its effects become too much and it swallows us all. You know, the usual reads.
It may seem like a stretch to lump that last subject in with the rest of the ordinary news thrust upon us each day, but is it? Recent generations have been bombarded with the threat of the planet dying since infancy, so much so that the fear associated with the topic is an almost normal sensation for us.
But there is nothing normal about what is happening to the planet. In the back of our minds, we’re achingly aware that our usual activities indulge consumeristic habits and escalate the deterioration of the planet. NASA’s government website sites that “97 percent or more of actively publishing climate scientists agree: Climate-warming trends over the past century are extremely likely due to human activities”. Besides the fact that the problem is so soul-crushing that focusing on it too long can send someone into a depressive episode, why isn’t everybody seeming to take this seriously? It could be as simple as nobody knows where to start.
It was when I took a required Colloquium class at my university that I began to understand how I as an individual could actually do something to quell the impending doom of our planet. A 2017 survey found that 78.1% of young people would be willing to change their lifestyles to protect nature, but most don’t seem to know how. Just being more informed was the first step to me truly feeling like I could make some sort of positive change in my daily life and for the future. The class exposed me to the large-scale efforts like the Kyoto Protocol, an international treaty that commits state parties to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and the Paris Agreement, an agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to undertake ambitious efforts to combat climate change and adapt to its effects, with enhanced support to assist developing countries to do so. Knowing current administrations all over the world have already stepped up to address this mind-boggling dilemma was surprisingly comforting and equally as motiving.
Even small information I learned from the class about buying more sustainable products and curbing my individual consumption has become essential in my personal decisions going forward. Some of that information, like how many of the huge companies I purchase from on a daily are fighting against climate regulations or how most of the commonly used one-use products I purchase end up in our oceans, made me horrified by many of the regular practices I took part in daily for the sake of convenience. Now I am actively aware of how my purchasing decisions impact the planet and aim to change my choices. I never buy plastic water bottles, and if I have to they’re never from the Nestle Corporation after I learned about their gouging of California aquifers during the drought. These are a few small changes, but ones that can make a big difference in the long run and diminish the existential dread a little at a time.
Some of the people around me in my everyday life have even started to notice the changes I’ve made and question their own choices in the process. My work provides styrofoam cups for all employees to drink out of, a material that never biodegrades and contains harmful chemicals for the environment. Once I knew that information, I couldn’t bring myself to grab another convenient styrofoam cup ever again. I started bringing my personal bottle for water or using the tiny recyclable plastic cups scarcely found at my job. My coworkers would notice my decision to walk down the hall to get the other cup that was far away rather than the ones already handy, and when I told them why I made my change many of them were motivated to do the same. Now we’ve begun to discuss with management about looking into an alternative cup supplier for our restaurants.
So, I sit here with my Tupperware container and reusable water bottle from home, the feeling of dread still lingers but no longer drowns me. Sometimes I worry myself about it, wondering if anyone does care or if anything is really being done. But then I hear about people like Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old climate change activist who spoke at a United Nations meeting in 2019 and inspired millions of young individuals around the world to strike in the name of climate reform, and I feel hope again. Her words to the older generations that have left the young to deal with the devastation are clear and true. “You are failing us, but the young people are starting to understand your betrayal. The world is waking up and change is coming, whether you like it or not.”
