The best formula for social change begins when we understand amongst ourselves what climate change actually is and what future damage can be done. Climate change can be a very delicate subject. Some people believe it’s real, some don’t believe it to be real, and some people believe it to be real, but they just chose to ignore it. If we ourselves aren’t educated on what climate change is and how we can help it, how can we impact others?

Everything we are doing to continue damaging our planet is our fault, and most of it can be prevented. Society cares more about money than our planet for future generations. It might be impossible to stop all the damage, but we can absolutely change the way we treat the planet or slow the effects of global warming

If each individual took the time to change one think we do in our daily lives, that’s our starting point. Sometimes the littlest things can create the biggest change. It could be as simple as riding a bike or walking to that store five minutes down the road instead of using a car. If you use a car- car pool! Always recycle, even glass! Don’t waste napkins, don’t let water run the entire time you brush your teeth, use re-usable water bottles or travel mugs so that there is less waste.

When we begin to create these habits of small acts to create change, we begin to develop Moore’s idea of moral responsibility, when people affirm what they think is true, good, or right and then back up their claims with reasons (8). When we take moral responsibility and apply with McKibben’s strategy of math, statistics, and strict facts, maybe it will begin to open people’s eyes and cause a sense of shock, like it did for me, so people can realize how bad climate change really is.

We additionally need to target the younger generations and begin teaching them at a young age about the importance of climate change and make them understand that is problem is now critical. It’s a problem we can no longer avoid and ignore. Hopefully this will encourage the younger generation to devote time and conscious effort into bettering our planet.

I truly believe that we can start a movement for climate change by starting with ourselves and applying McKibbens and Moore’s ideas for social change.

 

 

NAYSAYER:

Yet some people may challenge my view by insisting that we need to directly target the fossil fuel industry first, starting at the top. These people might also argue that small acts or developing small habits to create change are irrelevant. They might argue we need to “go big or go home” when it comes to battling this crisis. Although I might agree that would be a more ideal idea to simply attack the fossil fuel industry by shutting them down because we would not be admitting all the carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. However, society isn’t ready for it because we are dependent on this industry, people’s everyday habits are dependent on this. Such as today and every other day, odds are we drove a motor vehicle to get where we are presently. We need to change these habits by getting us educating explicitly enough so that we begin develop a sense of how this is happening  how bad it is, then develop moral responsibility and start creating small acts of acts of change.