I recently watched one of the most amazing documentaries I have ever seen called Racing Extinction, which aired in early December on Discovery Channel. It educates its audience on a wide variety of crucial topics including the endangered species trade, climate change, anthropogenic causes, and mass extinction. By the end it leaves you itching to want to make a different, and they provide a way for you. They have started a campaign called "Start with 1 Thing" that asks people to proclaim what their 1 thing they will start with towards change, whether it be singing a petition to stop wildlife trafficking or to begin participating in Meatless Mondays. "Find your thing."
I see two problems :
1) Too many people aren't educated on these topics. They don't realize the impact each individual makes in their daily lives, therefore, they don't realize they need to make a change. When you hear the words climate change, mass extinction, anthropogenic causes, do you really know what these phrases mean? Do you realize they impact you directly and your well being on this planet? If not, educate yourself! Find a documentary, an article, or good book on the topic and immerse yourself in it.
2) We don't take action. When we see these movements sometimes they feel so far away. I don't live by an ocean so how can I make a difference? Or, we see it as someone is already taking action to solve that problem so they don't need my help. I'm only one person, I can't make a difference. However, you can make a difference.
Too many see these critical issues as future problems. You will see these effects in your life time. "Half of the species on the planet might be gone in the next 90 years," says Louie Psihoyos filmmaker of the documentary Racing Extinction. Some species you saw growing up in zoos or in the wild, will soon only be known by photographs like dinosaurs are to us. The thing is, all the past mass extinctions occurred naturally, for example, like the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs. This time around, we have become the asteroid by sending green house gasses into our atmosphere destroying the ozone and expending mother nature's resources. We are on a sensitive tipping point of either a movement of recovery or the point of no return, but it is up to us to decide which way it will go.
So, "find your thing." Don't sit back and hope for the best. The future of our planet and literally you depend on it. This can only happen if everyone takes the time to care and participate. Start by fixing those two problems I discussed earlier. Educate yourself, and then take action. Use the documentary's campaign Start with 1 Thing to begin your journey. They have endless options of how to make a change and resources to aid you along the way. Also, watch the documentary! Be inspired! Click here to find a way to watch or try to catch it on Discovery Channel or YouTube.
I see two problems :
1) Too many people aren't educated on these topics. They don't realize the impact each individual makes in their daily lives, therefore, they don't realize they need to make a change. When you hear the words climate change, mass extinction, anthropogenic causes, do you really know what these phrases mean? Do you realize they impact you directly and your well being on this planet? If not, educate yourself! Find a documentary, an article, or good book on the topic and immerse yourself in it.
2) We don't take action. When we see these movements sometimes they feel so far away. I don't live by an ocean so how can I make a difference? Or, we see it as someone is already taking action to solve that problem so they don't need my help. I'm only one person, I can't make a difference. However, you can make a difference.
Too many see these critical issues as future problems. You will see these effects in your life time. "Half of the species on the planet might be gone in the next 90 years," says Louie Psihoyos filmmaker of the documentary Racing Extinction. Some species you saw growing up in zoos or in the wild, will soon only be known by photographs like dinosaurs are to us. The thing is, all the past mass extinctions occurred naturally, for example, like the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs. This time around, we have become the asteroid by sending green house gasses into our atmosphere destroying the ozone and expending mother nature's resources. We are on a sensitive tipping point of either a movement of recovery or the point of no return, but it is up to us to decide which way it will go.
So, "find your thing." Don't sit back and hope for the best. The future of our planet and literally you depend on it. This can only happen if everyone takes the time to care and participate. Start by fixing those two problems I discussed earlier. Educate yourself, and then take action. Use the documentary's campaign Start with 1 Thing to begin your journey. They have endless options of how to make a change and resources to aid you along the way. Also, watch the documentary! Be inspired! Click here to find a way to watch or try to catch it on Discovery Channel or YouTube.
"It is better to light one candle than to curse the darkness."
When you light your candle, you may find yourself meeting others with candles or even ignite someone else's. Only together, can we make a change.