We can all agree that 2020 was not a strong year for humanity for many reasons. A deadly virus was rampant, Microsoft Teams became mainstream, and the idea of social interaction not through a laptop screen was laughable. However, 2020 did give us something worth bringing back, and no, it’s not TikTok dances or dalgona coffee, even though that could be nice too.
Back then, everyone was way more “woke,” and not just in the performative Instagram way. In the sense that more people cared about social issues after Covid-19 showed how quickly the world could unravel under unprepared, poorly run governments. The term social justice warrior was a compliment, and people wore their wokeness like a badge of honour. Greta Thunberg was the Gen-Z icon, and environmentalism was a hot topic. Save the turtles, and the banning of plastic straws seemed like just a silly trend, but the impact of Gen-Z environmentalism can still be seen 6 years later, when your local cafe uses only bamboo straws.
The environment was at the heart of woke culture. Climate marches clogged major city streets, global warming was discussed daily on the news, and everybody knew what a carbon footprint was. How did we go from “save the polar bears” to collective indifference? We went from holding our governments and companies accountable for polluting our air to treating record-breaking heatwaves and floods as merely inconvenient weather updates.
Let’s be realistic, if caring about our climate is going to become as trendy as overconsuming, fast fashion, and Shein hauls, it needs a rebrand. Trends inspire people more than lectures ever will,l and environmentalism gained momentum when it was communal. Surprisingly, even before social media, we’ve actually pulled this off before. In 1987, the world came together to sign the Montreal Protocol, an agreement to phase out CFCs, an ozone-depleting chemical, when a rapidly growing hole in our ozone layer was discovered above Antarctica. Due to collective effort,s the hole is now slowly healing with a predicted return to pre-hole conditions by 2066. This is just proof. Proof that global cooperation isn’t a fantasy. Proof that regulation matters. Proof that when we treat environmental threats like real emergencies, progress will happen.
The ozone layer healed because normal people like you and me cared enough to make small adjustments in our daily lives. It wasn’t one hero. It was millions. If there’s even one thing you can do to be more environmentally friendly, you’re already taking the steps we need to bring about measurable change for future generations.
In a world so complex, we all have a lot on our plates. The cost of living crisis, political chaos, and other issues, just to name a few, can sometimes make environmental activism feel like one more unpaid responsibility.
But the environment is quite literally the plate.
Making caring about global warming “hot” again isn’t just about trendiness; it’s about self-preservation for us and future generations.