Environmentalism

Environmentalism seeks to improve and protect the natural environment. It aims to change environmentally harmful activities. According to Britannica “environmentalism claims that living things other than humans, and the natural environment as a whole, are deserving of consideration in reasoning about the morality of political, economic, and social policies.” Environmentalism started through the traditions, habits, and knowledge of indigenous communities. The Indus Civilization practiced sanitation and waste management. Ancient civilizations in China and India practiced crop rotation to maintain fertile soil. This approach plays an important role in promoting equity and justice.

Individuals in poverty and people of color face greater environmental challenges. These communities tend to face the negative results of climate change. Developed governments and large corporations should be taking responsibility for reducing the effects of climate change. These corporations have damaged the environment for a number of years. This was quite vivid when Shell and Exxon, in the 1980s conducted their own research regarding the impact of coal and fossil fuels on the environment. The scientists on these teams concluded that extracting and selling fossil fuels would cause substantial damage to the environment and even global temperature increases. However, these large fuel companies chose to hide this science and continued to extract fuel for numerous years. Shell and Exxon are just two examples of many companies that continue to participate in environmentally harmful activities. The severity and urgency of the climate crisis indicates that it is up to us to make environmentally conscious choices in our lives. Environmentally friendly products have increased in availability and efforts to improve recycling are already in progress. As human consumption continues to grow we must advocate for policies that target consumer habits and overall changes in human lifestyle. As a citizen of this planet each individual is responsible for making environmentally friendly decisions.