Dr. Thomashow uses the word Anthropocene. What is your understanding/interpretation of the word and what implications do you think it represents? My understanding of the Anthropocene is all negative action on the environment caused by humans overpopulating and altering the land for their own benefits. After the Industrial Revolution, we have seen some pretty drastic changes to the planet: mass deforestation for land use, mountains for trash ending up in the oceans, carbon emissions ripping apart the atmosphere, and unresponsible use of renewable resources. Humans have proven that we cannot live sustainably without interfering with our “Keeping Up With the Jones” attitude. Our new lifestyle has blocked our view of what’s important in life, which has resulted in the craving for the next best things.
What leadership qualities can you exhibit to spark transformational change? Incorporating more education on the environment to the youth I believe will have the biggest impact moving forward with policy plans. I was included in the Maine Climate Council “Youth Day” and was able to participate and learn from other teenagers, and their opinions on the environment. Currently, the office is being dominated by the much older generations, passing around the same ideas. Allowing younger voices to express the importance, and what they think should happen to move forward could put us back on track for a cleaner lifestyle. The future is ours now, we need to live and raise our families in an environment that is clean and sustainable; teaching them ways for their generations to make a difference as well. For me walking into a conference with a bunch of concerned teenagers inspired me more to make a change in the world, rather than sitting in-class lectures. We look at environmental problems and try to tackle this biggest of problems right of the bat, even with the newest of technology we shouldn’t try to eat the whole elephant in one sitting. Passing more bills requiring people to do their part and help save the environment for future generations to come.
