I asked 3 People to Explain Why they didn’t talk about Climate change and Environmental Issues.
And here are their answers… (Part-1)
As I read articles about climate change, one question often comes to mind, “Why isn’t everyone talking about it?”
With this very question in mind, I decided to reach out to a few of my friends and family members and asked them this very question.
“Why don’t people talk enough about Climate change and Environmental Issues?”
I didn’t ask it out of judgment or condescension; I genuinely wanted to know.
I genuinely wanted to know why even now, people weren’t aware (or talking enough) about the 1.5 degrees C limit, the everyday deforestation, plastic pollution, wildlife extinction, and so many other issues.
And what could I change in my narratives to spread the message and create maximum impact?
Since all the three answers were so detailed and well-answered, I divided this article into three parts so that we could get into the depths of each solution.
Today, we will cover the answer given by the first person:
To honor the privacy of the individual, I have refrained from mentioning the name of the person.
Gender (Not sure if this even matters): Man
Pseudo Name: Teddy
Age group: 30–35 years
General Opinion: I kind of care about Climate change & Environmental Issues
Answer:
Teddy classified the “general public” into two categories.
(1) People who “kind of” participated in the conversation
(2) People who refrained from even thinking about Environmental Issues
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
And he described it as shown below:
Group 1- People who kind of participated in the conversation:
a. Know that climate change and environmental issues are real.
b. Won’t participate as a policy change enforcer but know that one can do their bit to help slow down the degradation.
c. Not ready for a debate on this topic because they know about the “general environmental degradation” but can’t throw facts and figures. Mainly because data can get too tedious to remember, or numbers may be too huge (or constantly change).
d. Have inculcated some habits that are definitely helpful to reduce environmental degradation, but since they aren’t aware of the impacts of those small actions, they don’t promote it. As a result, such efforts remain restricted to ones’ household.
e. Know that this is an issue where one needs to rise above the cues of Government and Corporations because they’re going the other way.
Teddy Classified himself under Group-1.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
Group 2- People who don’t get involved at all:
a. Don’t know what’s climate change.
b. Are so engrossed in living life at the moment that they even miss out on deciding their own futures, let alone future generations.
c. Are usually busy making money throughout the week and find weekends to be the only time to rest and rejuvenate. They do not prefer to spend their free time learning about Environmental issues.
d. Don’t think that their efforts to create a positive environmental change would be well-rewarded (monetarily or otherwise).
e. They Lose track of good actions before they become habits.
What I (Author) learned from this Answer:
a. How can I find ways to reach out to Group-2?
b. How can we further educate people about the Seriousness of Climate change?
c. How can we make “policy-changing” initiatives and activism more accessible (and safer) for the general public?
d. How can we provide additional limelight to people in Group-1 so that they become stronger allies towards protecting the Environment?
e. How can we continue to spread the message of moderation, issues of over-consumerism (especially regarding mental-health rather than the Environment), and income equality to the people of Group-2?
f. How can we make Real-time Environmental data readily available (preferably free) and easier to comprehend so that it can be distributed more efficiently, hence helping Group-1 take up these topics during discussions?
Conclusion:
For a person like me, who pretty much works in a silo, Teddy’s answer gave me a fresh perspective. I had never thought about several points that he mentioned.
No matter how much we emphasize climate change or any environmental issues, we cannot achieve success without soaking our feet in the waters of Human psychology.
Why do certain people think a certain way? There lie our answers.
While we are definitely running out of time, things won’t get better unless we have such difficult conversations.
A huge Thank-You to Teddy for sharing his honest perspective. It takes immense courage and valuable time.
Stay Tuned for Part-2 of this article for another fresh perspective.
Check out my YouTube channel for inspiring videos: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBfUxVSxC0koxGSkwzVRYzQ
