Whenever I start to think about everything that is wrong in the World, I just want to cry. Especially when I realize that the way I live my life every day contributes to the way the world is, and a lot of the things that I find wrong with it.
I get up every morning, turn on the lights, go to the bathroom, take a shower, have breakfast, get dressed and drive to school… and by then (thinking in an exaggerated yet truthful manner) I have already contributed global warming, the world energy crisis and pollution beyond my imagination (specifically water and air). I have probably contributed to slave labor somewhere (maquiladoras in the clothes I am wearing, and probably the farmers who made my breakfast possible are also exploited). I am eating fruits of injustice for breakfast (lunch and dinner).
Not to mention that all of this daily stuff that seems ordinary is in fact all a huge luxury. How many people have lights to turn on in the morning? How many have running water? And recently I ask myself, where does the food I eat come from? How does it get from the earth to my mouth (assuming animals are also earth creatures)? How many people does it take for me to have breakfast everyday (I mean how many hands are involved in the food I eat getting from where it was grown, processed, etc. to my plate)? Who is getting rich from everything I do? Who is getting impoverished?
I don’t really know how to answer these questions that I have, I guess through information systems (I am actually trying, just haven’t found what I want yet). Any ideas?
Another thing that I wonder about is if someone were to show me all the waste and garbage that I have produced in my life, I wonder what size it would be? And how different would it be from someone my age living in another country? Or in my country but with a different social status (higher and lower)? What would the world be like if everyone lived exactly the same way I do? I don’t even think that would be sustainable. And here I am wanting to go to graduate school in environment.
I know I can do little things. I try not to let the water run unnecessarily. I am bad about turning off lights, but that is fixable (and after all of these confessions it would be hypocritical of me to leave them on). I can take public transportation. I can be informed about what consequences my actions have. I can inform and nag others to do the same.
I find myself thinking about these things a lot lately. I think I am going to research some of my questions. Hopefully I will find some answers. Now I have to go to bed so that I can get up tomorrow and make my daily contribution.
