Why should I care about sustainability??
Hello classmates!!!
My name is Naomi Waldron, and welcome to my blog! This blog is going to be focused on sustainability, particularly in San Diego and California in general. I may be adding some things about nature as well :) I am a sustainability major and geography, natural resource, and the environment minor, so hopefully some of the things that I have learned in my classes I will be able to share with you all.
It's obvious that I care about sustainability. I have always loved being outside and in nature, but why is sustainability something that you all should care about? We are all residents of an amazing planet called earth. This is the only home we have known, and the only home we will ever know…. At least for the foreseeable future. So, if nothing else, you should care about sustainability because if humans keep degrading the earth at the rate that we are, we will not have a planet that we can inhabit! Degrading the earth puts our food supply at risk because it lessens the space we have for productive agriculture. At this point the issue of sustainability is not just about preserving nature so we have pretty places to go, it is about not destroying the earth so we can continue to live on it.
We are not the first organisms to start feeling the effects of climate change. You may have noticed things like wildfires becoming more frequent, storm intensity changing, and extreme weather in unlikely parts of the country. However, many different species have been wiped out by humans altogether. In fact, we are in the sixth mass extinction in our earth’s history. There is one thing that is different about this sixth mass extinction, though. All of the previous ones were caused by changes in the earth’s tilt or a cosmic collision, or some other earthly event. The one we are currently facing, however, is being caused by humans!!
This photo is from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America and shows “Population size of terrestrial vertebrate species on the brink” of extinction:
In order to preserve our living space, action has to be taken at a much faster pace than the current. That is why it is important to educate yourself and the people around you about the importance of sustainability, and how it connects to their wellbeing. We only have so much time to make it right, and it is important to use the critical time that we do have left. It is also key to remember that these actions do not end with the individuals. Don’t get me wrong- of course, individual actions are important, but sweeping systemic change is necessary to try to reverse the effects of climate change.
Image source: https://www.pnas.org/content/117/24/13596
Naomi,
ReplyDeleteI agree that it is very important that we take care of our own planet. It is, like you said, the only one that we get. That said, I would argue that it should not be up to the individual to stress about it all of the time. I’ve spent a lot of my life stressing about how to be sustainable, and it’s frankly not worth it when my impact does o little to help the planet. I could worry about whether or not my almond. I’ll is grown sustainably, and the fact that 10% of Californias water usage goes to growing almonds, but me deciding not to drink almond milk will not be significant enough. The bigger picture is corporations impact on the planet. I look forward to more from your blog, and can’t wait to see what you say.
Naomi,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your post! Sustainability is one of my personal interests, so as soon as I saw your blog title I knew I'd love reading yours. Before I switched my major to Public Health, I was originally headed towards the Environmental Science & Resource Management path. I still plan to get my masters degree in Environmental Health. I'm excited to know you are minoring in several related environmental topics, because that will give you a great advantage as a professional and also for writing this blog. What stood out to me the most is when you said "if nothing else, you should care about sustainability because if humans keep degrading the earth at the rate that we are, we will not have a planet that we can inhabit!" This hits the nail on the head- humans are inherently selfish and individualistic. We tend to only care about what is right in front of us and don't care about things that don't personally affect us. Unfortunately, this had led to a catastrophic impact on our planet. I hope that we as humans can get it together before it is too late, like you said. The crazy weather patterns and natural disasters are just the tip of the iceberg. We need to act quick to preserve our resources and try to reverse what has been done already.
I look forward to reading your posts this semester.
Hi Naomi, I want to start off by saying that I like the topic you decided to focus your blog on. The fact that you are writing about something that relates to your major, it shows how passionate you are about your major. I like how you explained why it is important for us as a whole to care about sustainability not only why you care. It makes it feel like you are talking to your audience and not just explaining to us why you think it is important because I hope we can all agree that it is. Although your blog is very informative and, in a way, scholarly it feels relaxed.
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