HOW DO WE LIVE GRACIOUSLY WITH OUR ECO-IGNORANCE?
World Scientists Warning to Humanity
Does it seem to you, that humanity largely ignored the warning that was issued to it by leading scientists in 1992, which stated that we humans are on a collision course with the natural world, and that our future is at stake if we don’t stop inflicting damage on the environment?
The Dire Warning (Did We Listen?)
If you missed the warning, here it is: “Human beings and the natural world are on a collision course. Human activities inflict harsh and often irreversible damage on the environment and on critical resources. If not checked, many of our current practices put at serious risk the future that we wish for the human society and the plant and animal kingdoms, and may so alter the living world that it will be unable to sustain life in the manner that we know.
Fundamental changes are urgent if we are to avoid the collision our present course will bring about. No more than a few decades remain before the chance to avert the threats we now confront will be lost and the prospects for humanity immeasurably diminished. We the undersigned, senior members of the world's scientific community, hereby warn all humanity of what lies ahead. A great change in our stewardship of the earth and the life on it, is required, if vast human misery is to be avoided and our global home on this planet is not to be irretrievably mutilated.”
Did Awareness of the Problem Invite the Solution?
Whew! Those were some strongly spoken words, weren't they?!! So tell me: have YOU changed your stewardship of the earth since that warning was issued? Have your family members, your friends, and your neighbors changed their stewardship of it? If you have, that’s great news. But if you haven’t, and if you’re concerned, as I am, that our collective efforts need to be stepped up in a major way, before it’s too late to reverse our planetary condition, you wouldn’t be alone. Sometimes, it occurs to me, our awareness of a problem (and even our grave concern about one) isn’t enough to solve it. Sometimes, it’s easy to get totally overwhelmed by a problem and forgo action on dealing with it.
As Consumers, We Drive Health Issues Affecting People & the Planet
Aside from some of the big ecological challenges we face in the world today, such as melting ice caps, warming oceans, land degradation, depleted natural resources, extreme weather events, and climate change, we also have to face human health challenges such as poverty, hunger, and disease. Unfortunately, many of the lifestyle production systems that we, as consumers rely on to create our everyday lifestyles, contribute to these issues. The methods they use to bring goods to our homes are highly toxic, yet they continue to be employed, because the big businesses that produce our lifestyles tend to place a higher value on their profits than on the well-being of people and the planet.