Less Everything
Yesterday was another of those days where I suddenly felt deeply uncomfortable and worried. The night before, I had been watching the news and it was no good news. Fires. Fires in Alaska and Siberia. Massive amounts of CO2 released. And obviously, that component had not been considered in the climate change models and scenarios that exist. So it happens faster and it is worse than we even thought. I am no scientist, but I am not stupid. Climate change is happening, but are we all closing our eyes?
To some extent, yes, we are. I am. If articles about the extinction of bees and insects pop up in some news-feed I often catch myself skipping them because I just do not want to know. The sea is dying, the Arctic is melting, and I do not want to know. Because I feel guilty. And it scares me. It scares the hell out of me. I am 28 now and the thought of having a family at some point has popped up in my mind every now and then. But then I also ask myself: Who am I to expect a child to live in such a world? How much of a responsible choice is that?
I tell myself that I try to live sustainably. But what does that even mean? Recycling, reduce food-waste, take shorter showers, switch off the light, buy local and second-hand, fly/travel less to name a few? Honestly, I fail at it daily. The only thing that I am pretty consequent about is skipping meat (and often dairy products). I live in a fucking penthouse that is way larger than I would need my flat to be, I own thousands of things I do not really need, I buy take-away coffee, I do not know where all the ingredients in my food from the super-market come from. And I still fly waaay too much. When I was still an elite-orienteer I flew at least once a month to training camps or competitions. “But you have to, it’s different”. Was it really? Now my sister lives in Norway. She is my best friend and I miss her which is why I’ll be visiting her soon. “So I need to, it’s different”. Is it really? In September I will attend some FIFA-conference in Madrid. “Well, it’s my job, so it’s different”. Really?
One thing I have realized is that I am not alone with my thoughts and fears and my excuses. It is just… We do not talk about it. Because instantly, if we allow such thoughts, we also feel guilt. The first time I realized that most of us are in this dilemma was when I had been drinking a few glasses of wine with friends, it was late and suddenly the conversation took a dramatic turn. In the end we were just sitting there, all quiet because we did not know what to say. We know things are not right. But at the same time, we know that we need everyone to be in this game together which leaves us with a feeling of powerlessness and resignation. So, have we fucked up?
Well. Of course, it lies in the responsibility of each one of us to live more sustainable. But most of all, it lies in the responsibility of our leaders all over the world to make some freaking changes and provide some guidelines we can all live by. I have studied the mechanisms in International Environmental Law at university. As those negotiations are highly political, so the process is super sluggish. Different countries have different interest. Do they? What other planet is there, if I may ask?
So at the moment, it is the responsibility of our politicians, our leaders, our governments, our presidents. They need to listen to our scientist and make the issue their #1 topic on the agenda. It is their fucking (sorry, already using that word for the second time…) job to come up with solutions, to implement rules and laws. We will not solve the problem if we rely on “each and every one” to make “a little change”. It is simply not enough and after a few (too many!) years we should have realized that obviously, we are all pretty useless at it (including me). People know how to handle rules, even if they might not agree with them first. Rules are a “system” that works. The change needs to come top-down. We will need to accept, to cut down and to play by those rules. Even if it means less travelling, less mangoes from Peru at the store, less everything. Who does not want to be able to enjoy this beautiful gift called life on our wonderful planet?
So if we, the citizens, put more pressure on our leaders, as in “it’s actually the only thing that matters!”, would they not be interested in being the ones that lead the change? Imagine you could call yourself “one of those who made climate change slow down and stop”. Shouldn’t that be what every politician wants to strive at nowadays? So let’s continue to tell them that we want change!
/B
PS. The pictures are some of my favourites from “the world”. It is a beautiful place. Let’s protect it together, even if it means that we will not get to see all of it with our own eyes. ❤