Over generations and the problem with environmental protection

The more I think about sustainability and environmental protection, the more I think about what the future holds. And what can be can change.

It's clear that you can start buying less unnecessary stuff today, paying more attention to waste separation, buying local products, or eating less meat. All you need is a decision, and you can make it yourself. You just have to want it.
But when I think about everything that is going wrong right now and how we can contribute to changing the situation in the long term, it seems to me that the to be the problem.
Sustainable living and environmental protection are not the only areas where one feels that people want simply don't understand it. But can they even understand it?

My point is that there's far too little education. Everyone is capable of informing themselves about these issues and forming an opinion, which they can then base their decisions on. For most people, Google is just a click away. So why don't more people change their behavior? Is it because it's easier to close our eyes to what's going wrong? Is it because we're creatures of habit, and it's too "exhausting" for us to establish new behaviors? Do we think it doesn't directly affect us? Or that we can't do anything on our own anyway?

PHOTO BY PRISCILLA DU PREEZ ON UNSPLASH

The role of motivation

Maybe it's also the case that you don't know how best to get started. Who are you supposed to believe when everyone tells you something different? Beyond that, people need strong motivation for everything they do to see it through in the long run. In our society—perhaps only in my generation of millennials—the biggest motives seem to be self-realization, recognition, and success. To become as big as possible as quickly as possible, to constantly outdo oneself and keep moving forward. And to be completely yourself, to do one's own thing.

Sometimes I don't even know what to make of it. On the one hand, we're doing better than ever, but on the other hand, won't this whole thing drive us crazy at some point?

Other themes like harmony, justice, and freedom seem to be somewhat neglected. But aren't these precisely the things that should be becoming increasingly important in our society today?
I can't say whether these problems have always existed in some way; after all, I'm the only one living here and now. And if you start thinking about the whole issue like that, you could probably philosophize about it endlessly.

The role of education

It's no secret that people are the way they are primarily because they were taught certain norms and values as children. Our upbringing shapes us, and by that, I don't just mean the upbringing we receive from our immediate environment, like our parents. I also mean the education system and politics. Of course, it would be easy to say, "I can't help it; it's the fault of the generations before me!" No, as I said, we also inherit all the positive things, all the privileges we enjoy today, from the generations that preceded us.

But even so, in my opinion, far too little is being done to educate people. You have to think ahead and consider it important for yourself to educate yourself about topics like climate change, environmental protection, and sustainability. But some people simply don't have the same (cognitive or social) prerequisites as we do. Shouldn't we take a more general approach and (want to) educate as many people as possible about this?

Kind im Regenanzug spielt im Wald in der Sonne

PHOTO BY ALEXANDER DUMMER ON UNSPLASH

The role of education

Unfortunately, I know that's easier said than done. But couldn't we start, for example, in schools, to instill different values in children from an early age? Show them how precious our planet is and how best to protect it? Teach them that it's not about accumulating as many possessions as possible and always wanting the latest and greatest, but rather about appreciating what they have?

If sustainability were a separate school subject, children could be educated about everything we need or want to learn today. Topics like sustainability and environmental protection, in particular, can be beautifully implemented through play. Children would learn to integrate these things into their everyday lives, and many things would become much more natural to them. Currently, this only applies to children who learn these things through their parents' lifestyles—and they're probably still laughed at in school for it.

But these are topics that will affect each of us and each of our children, and which every child should therefore learn. But yes, there's probably still a long way to go before we get there, and unfortunately, these aren't the only difficulties facing our world today.

The role of social media

Nevertheless, I'm thrilled to see that a start is being made, for example, on social media – which is often so frowned upon. More and more influencers, whether on YouTube or Instagram, are becoming aware of this issue themselves and are using their reach and role model status to share their insights with their followers. They're increasingly educating people about sustainability, environmental protection, and climate change. Younger people in particular benefit from this, and it can have a real impact on teenagers.

Let no one say again that social media is inherently bad. In my opinion, more is happening on any online platform with regard to the issues discussed than in education policy at the moment...