I’ve already talked a little about global warming where I told you that in order to save our world, we had to reduce the release of greenhouse gases – something I’m sure you’ve already been briefed about in great detail. However, no one ever talks about how difficult it is to actually follow through.
A key way we’ve been told to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is to either reduce our car use by using public transport or active travel such as bikes/walking, or to swap to electric cars. Cars are practical modes of transportation, it’s not just as simple as walking or getting the bus everywhere – especially when you have a job that requires a long drive or a work vehicle.
I, for one, use public transportation for one off trips into town. The bus comes to my neighbourhood once every hour, which is very impractical should I miss the one I was planning to catch. The reliability of public transport makes people cautious and uncomfortable using it. In my own experience, my bus has left early or not showed up at all so many times that I physically couldn’t handle the stress of catching it anymore – not to mention that quite often I’m forced into a small space with rambunctious year 8’s who believe they own the world. Instead, I will go out of my way, maybe even wait for hours, just to get a ride home with my parents or siblings.
With public transport out the question for many, the other option was electric cars, which, in their own right, are hugely overpriced and near impossible to maintain without proper funding to do so. If it was really so important to protect the environment, then people should stop worrying about finding ways to line their pockets and instead focus on making eco living affordable.
This is also applicable for organic and environmentally friendly produce. Much of our food has been genetically modified in order to maximise yield and product satisfaction. I’ll talk a bit about GM crops in a later blog, however the reason I’m mentioning it now is that technologically modified and overseas foods tend to be cheaper and therefore more popular in supermarkets. This makes locally sourced produce less popular and more expensive. By buying food that’s supplied from abroad, we unknowingly increase our carbon footprint by buying foods with higher food miles. This means, just a simple decision between organic carrots and Spanish carrots can make a massive impact on the amount of carbon dioxide that you’re responsible for releasing into the environment. If the government is really so stressed about this issue, then why make it so difficult to commit to an eco-lifestyle.
I’ve spent pretty much my entire schooling being told that our world is dying. Many of my peers feel helpless as we’re told it’s up to us, a bunch of teenagers, to reverse the mistakes of all our elders. These are some big shoes to fill. There are people like Greta Thunberg who are taking on this responsibility, yet I’m left questioning the futility of it all when I hear my classmates laugh at her efforts and have no energy to save our dying world. With the current state of the economy, no-one really has the money to work towards an environmentally healthy lifestyle, and I don’t think adults realise just how much this kind of attitude has affected the children of today. Many of us believe it’s too late to do anything– adopting our parents’ attitudes to the situation- and even if it wasn’t, we physically don’t have the power or money to fix things. We’re all told it’s not about stopping global warming, only delaying it. However, what’s the point of delaying the inevitable, especially when there’s only a select few with the means to do so?