We need to save the planet! Most of us have said this in one way or another in our new age of sustainable responsibility. Caring about the planet is in right now.
I was right alongside people believing that we needed to “save the planet”. I even created a whole clothing brand in an effort to promote buying less apparel and using high quality sustainable options. I thought I was helping “save the planet”. Years later, I realized most of us are not actually trying to save the planet.
We are trying to save ourselves.
The fact of the matter is, the planet will be fine with or without humans. We add minimal value to earth’s natural systems, in fact, we disrupt them far more than we add to them.
The earth’s climate works in a cyclical nature. Another ice age is inevitable. A warming period will come after. Sea levels are rising. Does the earth suddenly not exist if the sea levels rise 100 feet? No, it will be the same earth as before, with a bit less land mass showing. We are not saving the planet, we are saving ourselves, property, and treasured coastline spots.
Combating climate change and the use of fossil fuels helps us, it does not help the planet. Saving trees and forests does not help the planet, it helps us have clean air to breathe and capture our carbon emissions.
What we should focus on is saving life. Sparing the lives of animals and plants. Not doing harm to others that you would not want to be done to you. The planet will be fine. The life we share the planet with will not be fine.
Before we can change the world, we must first change ourselves. The best way to make an impact is to become the paragon of what you wish to see in the world. Inspiring others through example.
Consequences of our actions rarely play out in the near term. Especially when it comes to climate change, the effects of our decisions today will have much more impact 10, 50, 100 years into the future.
It's hard as humans to see the effects of compounding on our world. Our minds are suited far more for understanding the linear. By the time we realize the impact of our decisions, the exponential flywheel will be spinning.
We need to save ourselves and stop the flywheel. If not for us, for the other life on the planet.