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| British Grey Squirrel.
I wanted to throw in an opinion I have about climate change, it's not an extensive, well researched opinion. Of course there are many reasons for the state of the Earth today- as I said earlier one of the main issues, possibly the main issue is pollution; both car fumes and landfill as well as chemicals and removal of trees to create yet more concrete dumping grounds. But why is this happening in the first place? In England, Grey squirrels have taken over woodland to replace Red ones the reason thought to be a mixture of leprosy which grey squirrels seem to be immune to, as well as being dominated by the Greys. The last case of leprosy contracted in the UK was in 1798, but there have been more recent cases in Florida. It is recomended that we do not stroke or touch squirrels and to handle dead ones with gloves. It used to be in fashion to eat them, as well as to trade their fur, which may be how humans caught leprosy in the first place.
So I was thinking about pollution and climate change and I was thinking about fashion. We developed an incredibly disposable culture from around the 1960s. Not just the new fabrics which became popular, not just the new packaging but the attitude.
I think it's fair to agree that fashion is wasteful and expensive. With the invention of more disposable, cheap fabrics, from the 1970s we had a wider range of fashion available which was socially acceptable by this time. Gone was the British Victorian modesty. When clothes and fabric became cheap, the masses could afford to have more. The High Street copies the catwalk, although it's a much cheaper version of Designer wear- there's still a constant change. The same attitude goes with catering. Food uneaten is thrown out. Food unsold is thrown out. Some cafe and restaurant chains are more popular, along with coffee shops- but they create waste. People flock to them to get the brand name for their snapchap or instagram.
The problem is, it's seen as a cool thing to do. These trends are obvious on sites such as Twitter. A modern definition of trends refers to social networking as well as usual meanings. Some people follow them, other people make money out of them. Most of us just like to have new things sometimes, or a variety of choice and this is where the issue is; the sheer variety of things that can be made cheaply has created this disposable attitude, fuelled by fashion, fuelled by the catwalk - and by extension, Hollywood movies and glamour - fuelled by the need to 'look good' and to 'be up to date' we have settled into a Western garbage culture. This is not about shopping, it's about rubbish, waste - with the attitude that we 'can always get more'.
These factories and the demand that we create brings more chemical pollution, more landfill - this need for 'Tea' (current term for 'gossip') and the ease in which we can access new things is probably damaging the Earth more than the things being targeted and blamed. For example, it's polite to ask companies to stop using palm oil in their products. That seems to be why the trees are being cut down in rainforests - not just to make palm oil, but to help make products that we use!
It would make more sense for each individual to stop using the products that are causing problems.
We've already made progress in some ways- recycling for example, re-using products, having a carrier bag charge, changing cotton buds from plastic sticks to paper or bamboo, having a choice as to what kind of packing we buy, it can only get better. There is talk that we are doing too little, that there is not enough time. The human population grows every year. We need new ways of living NOW in our generation.
We need more 'off the grid' living styles, more home produce. But of course that's harder to tax.
Photograph by Volk B
Links found using Ecosia search engine which plants trees as we search the web ecosia search engine
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