How We Can (and Must) Change the World

 by Anjali Arackal

How many of you watched David Attenborough’s “A Life on our Planet” on Netflix last October? I watched it, along with my family, and it completely transformed our collective viewpoint on just how critical the situation is currently. Of course, like any self-respecting people under 25, my sisters and I were already somewhat aware of the issue and had made some vague steps towards reducing our carbon footprint: we recycled as much as possible, tried not to contribute to fast fashion (did you know textile production contributes more to climate change than international aviation and shipping combined?) , and were attempting to convince our parents to switch to almond milk in a boycott of the dairy industry and the copious amounts of methane it produces. My parents were slightly more ambivalent, aware of global warming but not spending much time considering how we could help the cause.

This film changed all of that. It described humanity’s vast impact on the globe’s fauna and flora that Attenborough has dedicated his life to studying. We watched, enraptured, as pictures visually told us exactly what had happened to our planet. That night, we all discussed the impact it had had on us. My dad in particular was very enthusiastic; he even started the process to install solar panels on our roof to reduce our dependence on electricity from the National Grid. The use of solar panels can reduce a household’s fossil fuel consumption by up to 40%.  We leased an electric car, and hope to charge it using solar power. The change can’t be understated; Attenborough had a decisive impact on the way we all live our lives.

Do you remember all of the articles around the start of lockdown last year about how globally, nature was improving and benefiting from lack of mankind’s daily abuse? How heartening is that? I’m striving to work towards that being our reality, a peaceful co-existence between humanity and nature. I hope you join me by making a few sustainable changes to your life, but most importantly by addressing the large corporations largely to blame. 70% of carbon emissions are caused by just 100 of the world’s companies, a fact I, personally, find reprehensible. You might think you have no power, as a single individual, but if we work together, our impact could be limitless! Together, we are strong. We might be separated by miles and miles, but our collective reach has the power to really make these groups sit up and listen, take note that we won’t just simply accept that this, their greedy, money-hungry ways of ruining our planet for profit, is acceptable to us. Protests! Boycotts! Hashtags! Together, we are strong. Together, we could change the world.