The Ripple Effect

Recently we had a week dedicated to talking about sustainable development. This includes all the highly political buzzwords like sustainability, community, development, environment, ecology, organic, green, etc. And to be honest, even as a biology major and the son of an organic farmer, I despise talking about these things. It all just seems too political for me, like everyone talks and throws out theories, but no one does anything.

But the more we talked, the more I realized, “Hey, this stuff makes sense! To destroy your only home is just, nonsensical.” This inevitably led to the question: “So why do we all do it?” I think that if everyone around the world, with the knowledge that nothing is impossible, were to look at the state of the environment, they would agree to take all the steps, big and small alike, to fix it.

The problem is that everyone in the world can’t put their minds together and reach a decision. There can be no worldwide, simultaneous decision; there is no single collective consciousness of mankind. Taking into account the little I understand about human nature, it seems to me that until everyone knows that they’re not the only one who cares, no one will do anything.

In Romania, for example, everyone I’ve talked to seems to care at least a little bit about the corruption of the government. But because each person feels that they are alone in their caring, they don’t speak up, and when everyone does this, no one knows that anyone else cares, and the cycle goes on. Nobody thinks that change is possible, so it doesn’t happen.

I think it’s the same with the environmental crisis and the steps necessary to gain total sustainability. As I already said, taking those steps just makes so much sense. The only price, as I see it, is a slightly lowered standard of living for (debatably) the wealthiest 10% of the world’s population. Is that worth it? I think that if we could ask the collective mind of every human alive, we would receive a resounding, “YES!” But like in What About Bob, the only steps we can take are baby steps.

While it isn’t possible for me to go to every person alive and tell them to take the baby steps necessary to reach total environmental sustainability, it is possible for me to take those steps myself. At my house in Iowa, we have a garden. We ourselves grow most of the vegetables and legumes we eat. We mulch our waste and use it for fertilizer. My dad sacrificed some of his organic farmland to plant a strip of native Iowa prairie grass that strengthens the soil and even combats weeds. My mom trades some of the garden and field produce for fresh milk from the neighbors. Steps are being taken.

And this is just one family in northwest Iowa. When the neighbors see that we care, they’ll show that they care, that they can take those baby steps as well. When they’re neighbors see them, they’ll take the steps, and on and on.

The answers to the world’s problems are not shiny new technologies that only solve the effects of the problems, but practices and methods that respond to the problems themselves. And these practices and methods can’t be mandated or shoved into usage by force; it’s a ripple effect.

Until everyone knows that they’re not the only one who cares, no one will care. But show your neighbor that you care, and you’ll change the world.