
1. The amount of trash produced (USA: @250 million tonnes/year - source epa.gov.us)
2. The amount of plastic that is trashed (USA: @ 31 million tonnes/year) with only 8% actually recycled. The rest is landfilled/leaks back into the environment (click here to see the Great Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch)
3. How to reduce the amount of trash we produce
4. How to begin to conserve the rain forests of the world
The future lies with our younger generation to be responsible as unfortunately a large majority of our older generation tend to be set in their ways due to "just trying to survive", buying as much as possible for our children so that they do not have to suffer without stuff and therefore it becomes "okay" to have excess and throw aways. 25 year olds and over have become a generation of irresponsible big kids with too much money who continually want new things versus need things. The price for our technological advances means more power consumed and a reliance on gadgets to help us get through a day. Our unbalanced levels of green house gases are a symptom of our consumption. Chopping down rain forests and polluting the seas (due to domestic/industrial waste + shipping of foreign goods) will certainly kill the lungs of the world and mother nature's heating/cooling balancing act, all due to the collective wants of the rich nations to package everything and the need to show progression with automating everything we do.
Our children need to pick up the slack, to be the change to halt our locust style consumption. They will need to disentangle the lies we have integrated into our society: what is a material need and what is a physical need.
Sorry kids - the adults of the world are too busy;
a) making money to support their families to be too concerned about things like the environment unless it can be easily integrated into their lifestyle.
b) trying to balance the economy with the ideology of "spend spend spend" on products that no longer last. Companies have forced the consumer to "buy buy buy" as many products now a days are not made to last as it would be bad business to make products that last; obviously screw the environment, it's not that important!!!
....so kids, teens, young adults, it is over to you to change the way we live, to change the way we work, to change our economic model.
Thank you Gregori High for allowing me to share opinions with you. It was exciting to meet a generation of change makers :-) and to hear about your "alternative energy" program. Go Jaguars Go!