Volunteering Stories: The importance of environmental interest – by PlanetBproject

1.

Thinking about the environment has been part of my life since I was a child. I was surely influenced by my parents and their way of thinking which of course also was reflected in their actions, meaning that they would try to contribute to a more sustainable lifestyle by buying less meat, only from reliable sources, spend holidays in places where you don’t have to fly to, use fabric bags instead of plastic ones and so on. As they were aware and concerned about this topic, their interest also wandered off to me.
Also in my German kindergarten this topic was dealt with, we learned how to separate trash correctly, as there is an established separating system in Germany. So I kind of grew up being aware that each of us has to take care of the environment, by taking little steps and also by simply being aware.
But many people are really not aware of the environmental crisis we have, the problems that exist because of human behavior, such as flying too often and producing everything wrapped in plastic.

Or, even worse, they know about it, but simply don’t care, because they don’t consider it as their responsibility and think that they as a single person cannot change anything anyways.

But this is not true, as every little thing contributes to the greater goal of somehow solving the environmental and climate issue.
Bringing this thought to adults is often very hard as they grew up in a different time, with problems that were not related to the environment. Therefore they often don’t consider it as a problem.
This is why it is super important for young people, people who are still in the process of growing up, people who are the next generation, and will be the one building future generations are aware of the problems related to the climate change and natural crisis and that they are being taught about it. Because without the knowledge about it, no one is able to make up their mind about it, make decisions or even find solutions.
It is important to get this topic more into discussion, and that starts with each one of us by simply sharing knowledge, tips & tricks and by sharing our thoughts and concerns because it affects us, our children, their children and not to forget our planet, which cannot help itself or regenerate if we don’t take action. Starting yesterday.

(Inken, Germany, volunteer in Baia Mare)

2.

Why should you consider protecting the environment?
Why do you look at the documentaries about nature feeling cozy on your couch?
Why do you want to get your money back from recycling the plastic bottles ?
Why wouldn’t you stop or just not follow the sustainable, ecological paths that are growing on a yearly basis, making our planet more secure, more clean, “El Naturale”.. It all has to come back to the laws of nature, we can and we should make these laws as similar as they are. We shouldn’t just unconsciously follow these trends, because they will not be 100% transparent with their acts, it has always been like that, hiding the real reason with an eco curtain to look nice on social media.

We should try to understand the direction of the evolution of our planet saving program and be the leaders of it.

After a nice documentary from the BBC narrator David Attenborough, it will make you notice much more trash around your street, you will feel bad seeing people littering the streets with cigarette buds and single use packages from candy bars while driving their electric scooter, and wearing falsely advertising “eco rucksack” just to look like an environmentalist on the outside. But that feeling usually stays with you for a day or two, and you adjust back to the environment around yourself. This is the time when Eclogy is the trend, and people do follow trends just because they are modern, so the global corporations do show their curtains with green color but not eco-friendly color. With time this trend will be gone and all these fashion boutiques will find something else to interest a buyer into spending more. There will not be
an ultimate movie about the environment, there will not be one ultimate quote, there will not be one thing that changes everything, we will need to remind ourselves every day in a positive way as the religions have their prays, their mass, their final goal to complete, but here, we are the God and we are the leaders of the movement, our kids suck the knowledge like a sponge it’s the easiest way to teach somebody. Our education is the Kur ́an and the stories are in nature, in our close forest, mountain, sea, river, not on the instagram post.

(Fran, Croatia, volunteer in Baia Mare)

3.

Why should the environment be protected? A lot of negative events are happening worldwide at this moment. Deforestation, areas turning un livable, pollution. All this seems a little unrelated for us living in safe areas but unfortunately the situation isn’t as good for everyone living on this planet.
Deforestation is among many other issues making it impossible for certain animal species to continue surviving. I think it is really sad how humankind as a collective is so selfish and indifferent towards other life on land. In my opinion we should support biodiversity rather than undermine it.
One of the things global warming causes is the increasing extreme weather conditions like floods, desertification and tornadoes. It destroys people’s homes and ruins so many lives each year. By taking action now we could preserve so much of our planet for future generations and above all – save human lives.

My home country is Finland. We absolutely adore nature there and it’s a huge part of the Finnish culture. I have had the opportunity to grow up in a clean and safe environment and it is important for all the children to have the same possibilities.

No child should grow up worrying about famine or insufficiency of clean water. It would also be ideal for a tornado to not blow off people’s houses. And all that will only happen by protecting the environment together.

(Ina, Finland, volunteer in Baia Mare)

4.

Protecting the environment should be a top priority for all countries. Conserving wildlife is essential for every aspect as everything is impacted by nature. Two very different topics, such as human health and the economy, can be linked back to nature and how the protection of nature will benefit them.
A study conducted in 2008 illustrated that the brain’s working memory is 20% improved after walking in nature. The urban environment we have created for ourselves is over-stimulating, and causes stress, which in turn leads to mental health issues. As for the economy, the world will not be able to live like this forever. We have created a consumerist economy which is unsustainable. We use non-reusable materials, such as fossil fuels, to feed our economy, which will inevitably lead to our down-fall. It is crucial for us, as a world, to make the transition from non-renewable to renewable resources. Crude oil resources will eventually run out, so this transition will be economically beneficial as the economy will not be impacted as heavily. We have seven years to tackle this issue before the global temperature has risen by 1.5°C. If the world increases its global temperature by 1.5°C there will occur changes in nature systems which will have everlasting effects. The beauty of nature is that everything is interconnected, however, this results in climate change being extremely dangerous. For example, as oceans warm, corals are destroyed, and without corals, the ocean will acidify due to an increase in CO2 levels. This then affects other aspects of the ocean, resulting in a never ending destructive cycle. Once all these issues arise, we will need to spend vast amounts of money trying to revert the changes, so rather than waiting until everything to fall apart, it is more economically smart to start avoiding the issues now.

All in all, the protection of the environment is incredibly important. Environmental degradation has a negative effect on every aspect of everyone’s life. If this issue is not tackled soon, not only are we destroying ecosystems, but we are destroying any future possibilities.

(Savi, France, volunteer in Baia Mare)

The 4 volunteers are involved in the ”There is no Planet B” project, an European Solidarity Corps activity , financed by the European Union. Their activities revolve around the idea of raising awareness on fields like environmental protection, human rights and interculturality. The contents of this articles are the own views and credit of the volunteers and does not reflect the official opinion of the European Union. The responsibility for the information and views expressed in the article rests entirely with the authors.