101 Ideas

By Emma

Ten people are standing in a line, four are thinking about other engagements, four are wondering why they’re there, two are too stressed and tired to even care. Thirty people come out of a talk about global warming, less than half are still thinking about the talk. Twenty people could be reading this right now, maybe half will actually be thinking about the environment, the rest are probably wondering where I’m getting these statistics or why those people were standing in a line. My point is that everyone hears about climate change but most people are too busy to really care.

When I was little, my family went on a cross-Canada excursion or at least that’s what my dad called it. I called it two weeks sitting next to my brother with nothing to do but fight. Do you think at the age of seven if I had looked out the window I would have seen the fields and thought hey maybe instead of playing game boy I should go out side and pick up some trash?

It is clear that saving the environment is not at the top of anyone’s to do list. So, how do we get it on that list? If we made slogans to save the environment or nifty little tunes, do you think people would clean up their act? Honestly those slogans are cute and fun to sing but they don’t always make me want to buy the product. What if we made a movie? Not a movie with a guy saying a bunch of facts but a kid movie full of animated creatures fixing the earth. Do you think that kids would tell their parents to stop using the car or do you think they would ask them to drive to the store and buy them figurines of the creatures? We could make a quick fix and get everyone to stick to it force people to never again use their cars or never use any plastic. Do you think people would agree or do you think they would vote for another government that would stop the ban on cars and plastic? What if we appeal to their sensitive or guilty sides by showing TV adds of Dying polar bears and penguins. Do you think people are going to stare at them feeling bad or do you think they will flip to a cheerier channel?

My point is there are 101 ideas of how to get people to care about the environment but there’s only going to be one solution. People will stop when they have to stop. They’ll stop littering when there’s nothing to litter with. They’ll stop driving cars when they have other ways to get around. They’ll save the earth when there is no other way. So now that we’ve established that we are not actually going to wait till it’s too late. We’ve got to make it out of the way for people to kill the environment. We have to make drinks only sold if you have your own cup to put them in. Same with groceries you get them when you have your own canvas bag. What about hydro cars bring their price down and people will buy them over expensive gas cars. If we make it inconvenient to kill the earth, do you think people will do it? Sorry to break it to you, but most people are lazy.

So ten years from now, we are doing this, making things better by making things only work one way. Another ten people stand in a line four are still thinking about other engagements, four are still wondering why their they’re and two are too stressed and tired to even care. These people still have the same things on their mind but now four take the bus and six drive hydro cars. Six don’t have a single plastic bag in their home and three haven’t had a cardboard cup in years. The people may still have the same things on their mind but even if they don’t know it, they are healthier and maybe slightly happier. They changed the world because it was inconvenient not to.

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