I have found this movie really fascinating, but also quite shocking, at the same time, as well. Who knew that we could produce so much carbon dioxide and so much pollution in just a few years of our life, through diapers and milk. I found it really sad that no one knows how much we waste, and how much we affect the planet. I had no idea, until now, that we have to waste so much crude oil and wood, just to make diapers for the toddlers. That is insane! The oil can be used for many other, more useful, purposes, such as powering cars, generating energy, etc. As for the wood, why would we deforest, just so we can make diapers? We ruin habitats, and we end lives, just so babies can keep clean. I find that horrible and inconsiderable for all the animals and plants.
But, this is just for the few first years of our life! As we get older, we keep on producing more, and more waste. This waste comes from groceries, clothes, beauty products, building materials for houses, medicines/pills, etc. All of this adds up 64 tons of waste, per person, per lifetime. That is an AWFUL amount of waste, for just one person. There are 6 billion people on the Earth, and this number is still increasing! Just imagine THEN how much waste we produce!
However, just a few simple changes can help our environment. Instead of throwing out cell phones away, we could recycle them. We could also recycle paper, plastic and metal more. Instead of using cement and concrete to make our houses, we could make a small part of the house out of eco—friendly materials. Some of them are bamboo, or recyclable materials such as aluminum and steel. Also, you could just decrease your house-temperature by 2 degrees in winter and wear a jumper, and increase it by 2 degrees in the summer and wear lighter clothing. This could stop 2 tons of carbon emissions a year!
Sustainability means “the capacity to endure”. In ecology it is also referred to as “the ability of biological systems to remain diverse and productive over time”. When I think of sustainability, I think of sustainable energy sources. Those are renewable energy sources that do not have very big affects on the environment, and do not cause greenhouse effects or pollution. Some of those sources are wind power, solar power, geothermal, hydrothermal, etc.
When my family and I calculated our human footprint, it showed us that, if everyone lived our lifestyle, we would need 5.3 earths. The biggest effect on this score was the amount of gasoline my family consumes, and the distance we drive each year. I feel terrible, and I think that there are a few ways we can reduce our footprint. Firstly, my parents could follow my sisters’ and my example, and walk to nearby places, instead of always driving. They could also ride the bike. I could also reduce my human footprint by changing some other impacts, such as food, fuel, etc. I could reduce the amount of animal-products that I eat. So, just eating less meat, would help to reduce a lot of food being thrown out, and it would help (even a tiny bit) stop mass food production. Also, my family could make a change by generating, even a small bit of our heat and electricity, by using renewable sources, such as solar panels, or wind turbines. This year, we could also take a holiday in Serbia, instead of going out of the country, and reduce the amount of gasoline we use, and the amount of carbon dioxide emissions we cause.
This video opened my eyes, and it successfully got its point across. We are consuming much more then we need, and if we want to save our lives, and our planet, we need to stop. This movie is a wake-up call.
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