I've been talking to some young people about their relationships to nature and to climate change. So far I've identified two groups of people. The first roup is very preoccupied with "fitting in" and being "mainstream" (as defined by popular media). The other group realizes that they aren't mainstream and never will be, and are trying to define who they are independently of media representations. Interesting. The mainstream group has spent much less time actively engaged with the environment. They also haven't been encumbered by the limitations that a sustainable planet would require. The non-mainstream group seems to have spent more time negotiating very rustic environments, and they have had some experience of selfhood separate from society. They have spent some time working with the limitations imposed by long stays in the wilderness.
Both groups long for more intimate contact with nature.
My point is that that psychological sustainability and ecological sustainability are linked: what is good for the person's mental health is good for the earth. We will have to address climate change in both spheres, changing how we live and changing our society. We are talking about the psychology of climate change. See Nikke Harre from New Zealand.
On Peoples' Minds: "There is no way I have any idea what to do about global warming, so I choose to ignore it. What difference can I make, anyway?" JS, a young man sitting in a bar.
"It doesn't concern me. I have everything I want, so why bother" BG, his friend.
In The News: Floursecent bulbs. Don't get me wrong - I use them but they are a complicated solution. Hard to use, harder to dispose of, but they do use less energy. Exactly my point. Changing technologies without changing the process of how we live often recycles the problems that lead to climate change.
My endorsement: I am going for Barack Obama because he gets it. In order to change the problems faced by our nation and this world, we can't simply substitute products. We have to change our process. Psychological sustainability is ecological sustainability, and yes we can do this. My experience is that most people secretly want this, but they afraid, hardened, cyncical and disappointed. I'm not, and neither is Obama.
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“what is good for the person's mental health is good for the earth”
I’m feeling that must be true.
For over three decades I’ve been visiting a small island of incredible natural beauty. I am very fortunate in that from my house I have a marvelous view of the sea to the west. Years ago, we could count on enjoying the sunset almost every day. But as the years passed, the sunsets began to disappear. The sun, which used to set behind another island, or, depending on the season, into the sea, now mostly sets into a band of dark grey smog.
In the morning, my husband likes to walk down to the beach and back. But now he has to go very early, before the busses and other traffic take over the road and force him to breathe more fumes than refreshing air. I worry about that.
The island is part of what remains of an undersea volcanic eruption. It is a rock that rises in places straight up from the sea. Its cliffs sport wild thyme and fennel and rosemary, juniper and pine, broom, aloe and opuntia, among many, many more flowers, cacti and trees. There are paths cut into the stone leading up the mountain or down to the sea or gently climbing to the edge of the rock face. One of the latter used to be particularly pleasant, winding as it did through vineyards and cultivated fields and past an open field where my husband played soccer as a boy. Cars park there now. It’s hard to walk and calmly take in the colors and the aromas because now the occasional steps have been fitted with ramps so that motorbikes and small, three-wheeled trucks can rumble by.
Now, the smell of diesel overpowers the delicate perfume of roses. The rustling of the pines is lost in the racket of the hovering helicopter. I miss that intimate contact with nature. That loss angers and saddens me. The degradation of this particular environment has a very definite effect on me: instead of feeling happy and exhilarated, thankful to be part of a special spot on our planet, I am resentful. I can no longer relax and restore the body and mind with the elemental pleasures I used to thrive on. Today, one has to ask about the water’s condition before going for a swim. There are days when garbage tides roll in: plastic bags, orange peels and other unseen, but dirty detritus the pleasure boats leave behind.
This isn’t climate change, but the attitudes and activities that despoil even the most beautiful of spots are what’s bringing about the changes that spell death for the planet and therefore, for all of us who depend on it.
I feel not only angry, but helpless. I may not strew garbage, or run electric appliances all day, or drive uselessly, especially in a vehicle much larger (and fuel-guzzling) than I need, or heat or cool my home to irrational extremes (I wear a sweater and run a fan), but in our capitalistic society, which depends so much on consumerism, what I do doesn’t matter. Big oil gets bigger every day, to our economic detriment and to the earth’s probably irreparable injury. The tiny port that used to harbor fishing boats and hydrofoils that brought tourists by the hundreds now strains to accommodate steamships that disgorge tourists by the thousands. During their brief visits, they leave behind a little money and a lot of garbage. The public gardens must be closed on weekends because the plants were being trampled and strewn with litter. Why is it that when we see beauty, most of us feel no compunction to preserve it? When we see the results of our carelessness, why do we keep on doing the very same thing?
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