The well-being of our planet is always a hot topic of conversation. We hear calls to action on the news, scroll past alarming statistics on Instagram, and breeze by brochures on cafe tables almost every day.
While it’s contradictory to my self-proclaimed status as a steward of the Earth, I’ll admit there are times when I try to avoid these truths. They can be really scary! It feels as if all 8 billion of us are in an inescapable downward spiral, tunneling towards an inevitable extinction event. Does anybody really want to think about that?
Although it might be cliché that I, an environmental policy and analysis major, am writing this article, I would like to believe that it’s not my academic background that fuels my passion, but my humanity.
I am an inhabitant of the Earth, lover of the oak trees in my backyard, and a clean-water enthusiast. These offerings from Mother Nature are the first concepts that come to mind when we think about sustainability.
One problem with our conversation on climate is that we often think too abstractly, using ideas that the average person doesn’t find applicable to their daily lives. But if you really think about it, just about everything you enjoy—from the minute you wake up to the minute you fall asleep—is directly tied to the health of our planet.
Don’t want to pay $9 for an iced caramel latte? As weather patterns fluctuate, the coffee market is becoming increasingly unstable, leading to unpredictable and unprecedented price changes.
Love those summer beach days? Rising sea levels and increasing erosion leave less and less room to stretch out on the sand every year.
Thinking about the climate crisis on a personal level is indeed scary, but it is also the most effective way to spark change.
Personally, I love a good $6 latte before tanning by the seaside, so sustainability is often on my mind. But it’s not enough to simply worry about it. Real change comes from action, and the daunting, all-encompassing question is: “How can I reduce my impact on the planet?”
It’s a dilemma that often overwhelms people, who ultimately convince themselves that their individual actions don’t matter. I hope you’ll listen to my plea when I say that this is literally the worst thing you can do because this mentality is single-handedly devastating our natural world.
When we assume that our individual choices don’t make a difference, we stop taking the small steps that, when combined, create a ripple effect of positive change. Remember, tangible transformation doesn’t happen overnight.
A realistic goal for humanity is not to hold ourselves captive to a strict rulebook of environmental consciousness, but rather to create a world where sustainability becomes second nature.
We’ve all heard it before, but it rings truer now more than ever: it really is as simple as ditching the plastic straws.
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