Our Planet
"I find now that I like the woods best in winter, when it is harder to tell what might be dying" (McKibben 923). The entire basis of McKibben's argument is the idea that the earth is dying, and it completely our fault, yet we are doing nothing to significantly change our habits. Sure, banning plastic straws may be the newest, trendiest movement to "save the turtles", but plastic straws only comprise about 0.025% of that (National Geographic).
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/60173673/shutterstock_673827451.1529944580.jpg)
McKibben is correct in is ideas that nature and our planet should have areas that are untouched by humans. Take, for instance, our national parks here in America. We designate the few areas of our vast country we deem beautiful or significant enough to be fenced off and available only to those who can afford the fee to get in. We drive our gas-guzzling cars across the land to marvel at the beauty of the very nature we are slowly destroying. Yet, as an everyday citizen, our efforts will always be too trivial to make real change. Large corporations and crooked politicians are the ones who pump pollutants into the oceans and have been doing so since the industrial revolution. Our society praises those who are trying to incite changes to our habits, yet we give them a pat of the back and continue to hand over our cash to companies who are ruining our planet. Our globe, once full of colorful flora and fauna, lively sounds, and hundreds, if not thousands of species, is quickly fading away.
McKibben is correct in is ideas that nature and our planet should have areas that are untouched by humans. Take, for instance, our national parks here in America. We designate the few areas of our vast country we deem beautiful or significant enough to be fenced off and available only to those who can afford the fee to get in. We drive our gas-guzzling cars across the land to marvel at the beauty of the very nature we are slowly destroying. Yet, as an everyday citizen, our efforts will always be too trivial to make real change. Large corporations and crooked politicians are the ones who pump pollutants into the oceans and have been doing so since the industrial revolution. Our society praises those who are trying to incite changes to our habits, yet we give them a pat of the back and continue to hand over our cash to companies who are ruining our planet. Our globe, once full of colorful flora and fauna, lively sounds, and hundreds, if not thousands of species, is quickly fading away.
I like your blog post! I definitely agree that major corporations are ultimately the main causes of pollutants damaging to the environment, however the responsibility of change is often placed on ordinary citizens. Like with the straw issue, do you think mainstream society adopts these ideas of change to make themselves feel better and feel as though they are doing something to save the dying planet?
ReplyDeleteI like how you included a statistic from National Geographic and your word choice throughout the end when you say things like "crooked politicians." Do you think it will ever be possible for everyday citizens to impact the behavior of large corporations if they protest enough? What else do you think they would need to do if it's possible?
ReplyDeleteI agree with your idea that individuals should beware of their actions, which can harm the environment. Also, the picture attached gives very powerful message that how harmful the unawareness is to nature as a whole.
ReplyDelete