Thinking Beyond ‘Me’

Out of the flood of information I’ve been soaking in lately pertaining to this class and our inevitable demise, the most surprising to me would have to be the idea of systems theory. As we all were sitting on the lawn a few days ago, we discussed how the popular idea of being “environmentally friendly” is making small, individualistic choices like riding a bike or becoming vegetarian. Throughout my own life, that’s always what I thought would make a big difference, especially if we all contributed to that. Never did I once consider the shared facilities we have as a society, like buildings or roads. It’s an odd feeling to realize that all that time, I thought I was doing what was best, when in reality, my ‘sustainability’ was minuscule. To become fully sustainable, we cannot think about our own actions, but also take an active role in the decisions being made as a whole. The energy consumption and ecological footprint in our own country is astronomical, which automatically means (in a slightly more positive light) that there is a lot of room for improvement. But that step up does not come from riding bikes and not eating meat. Soon enough we’ll all be forced to think as a system, globally, not just as individuals. It may come to be surprising for most of the general public, as it was for me, but it is certainly a necessary shock and adjustment. I suppose the question I’m left with is, how do we take said ‘active role’ in preserving the planet on a scale larger than ourselves? Does it involve politics? Does it involve educating others on sustainability the same way? How can we most effectively take part in the ‘system’, not just theoretically, but in reality?