I believe we cannot save the world by simply buying things all the time.
Even if we all bought 100% eco things 100% of the time instead of the plastic crap that everyone buys today, they are still ultimately things and it will mean that the demand for timber and other eco fibres will go up further, leading to further deforestation elsewhere (more plantations of whatever crop, be it corn for renewable plastic, bamboo or hemp for fibres, etc).
Personally I think the only real ‘solution’ for the entire human civilisation is … to do nothing. And by that I don’t mean “don’t change”. I literally mean: do nothing. For people to simply work less. Work a four day week. Work a four hour week.
We should be more like the Aborigines! We should look up to the Aborigines! The original (and best) custodians of this land.
More sleep and more meditation. That’s the only hope for humanity, for people to be more mindful. And that is the best that I can think of (after several years of thinking I might add).
And I can tell you first hand that it’s very hard to live with less, because we have all been brainwashed with “more more more”.
Of course it’s a huge problem because half the global economy is based on blatant overconsumption. I think one of the best things I ever did was to live in Spain — it taught me to be happier with much less.
I’m not saying we shouldn’t all try to be more eco, but what I am promoting these days is simply minimalism. So I would rather buy a wooden broom than have a vacuum cleaner (for example). Because I see the broom as being much less wasteful over the long term.
Unfortunately, when you begin to look at where all of our starting chemicals come from, the industrial processes used to get them, and where everything else is mined from, you realise how big the problem is.
People don’t want mines in their own backyard. And so the ONLY other place to get them is the natural spaces that are left. That is a very big problem. If only because “accidents happen”.
From my point of view as a former materials scientist, I find that life is so special, we should be fighting for every shred of biodiversity on this planet. We couldn’t even hope to artificially make anything like near as complicated as a fly or a worm from first principles using artificial methods (without cheating using genetic engineering etc).
I see human greed as being so strong, that future generations won’t even care about protecting biodiversity, because they won’t be able to relinquish materialism and consumerism. Even today it seems most people would rather cut the forest down and mine the damn thing, just to get more ‘stuff’. Worse, we are making the entire developed world utterly dependent on unsustainable computer technology.
All of the Earth’s creatures have, over billions of years, essentially created a breathable atmosphere for us. And what do we do to return the favour? Landclearing. Not the smartest species, are we?
And so as all these trees are continually cut down and almost never being replaced, I wonder what the hell we are doing. I wonder when the Earth will reach a “tipping point”?
In my opinion, the most efficient carbon sinks are tropical rainforests. I don’t think manmade technology can come close to that level of carbon absorption per square kilometre (especially when you consider that all physical ‘inventions’ must be mined and extracted, leading to further emissions). How can science ever hope to ‘beat’ a forest? I don’t think it ever will. I certainly hope not, if only because a forest is more beautiful to look at than a machine.
To me what is most sad is that the youngest generation living in urban areas are growing up to be totally disconnected from nature. The good news is that the state of the environment is continually being drummed into them. The bad news is that when they get into the real world, it’s a different story because unfortunately money is seem to be more important than biodiversity.
Sometimes the way this whole world currently ‘works’ makes me sick. So sick that I’m not even proud to be labelled ‘human’ anymore. We see our way ‘forward’ as ‘development’. I am coming to see it as undevelopment.
Most days I just try not to give up hope.
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