One of my most vivid childhood memories is of standing in a New York City museum and watching a mechanical meter that continually estimated the population of the world.
It was a series of spinning wheels with numbers, and the wheel that counted individual births spun so quickly that it was just a blur.
At that time, there were about 4 billion people on Earth. It took all of recorded history for the human race to reach that number, and now, only about 40 years later, the population of the world has increased approximately 75 percent.
I remember that I as I watched the meter, I was nervous. "Where will we put all the people?" I thought.
As I grew into adulthood, I became very environmentally conscious. I understood that as population dramatically increased, so did pollution. I recycled, purchased natural and organic products, supported environmentally friendly businesses, invested in socially responsible mutual funds, and I was careful about energy consumption. During one period, I wrote a series of relevant newspaper articles. And there was an unexpected bonus to this lifestyle: While shopping in a store that sold organic products, I met my wife.
However, during the last six years, my wife and I have been doing a lot of volunteer human rights work. As we became busier and busier, my knowledge of environmental issues waned, and I became much less careful about what products I purchased.
I recently recommitted myself to better environmental habits after watching a DVD of the documentary An Inconvenient Truth by former Vice President Al Gore. We watched this just several days before shopping for a new car. Inspired by the documentary, we bought a hybrid auto, which receives more than 10 miles to the gallon higher than any other gasoline-efficient car that we have owned.
In the days after that, I found myself replacing certain mainstream products, such as shampoo, with organic equivalents. I recently needed paint, so I purchased ecologically safe brands.
Still, I felt somewhat intimidated. I wanted to do more, but I had not thought carefully about environmental issues for years and have very little spare time. Then, I realized that all I needed to do was to start contributing positively in ways that I already knew and to pick up new knowledge and skills as I gained momentum moving forward. I have found that the magazine Mother Earth News is a great source for anyone wishing to learn more.
While contemplating my renewed efforts, it occurred to me that there might be many people in the reverse situation. Perhaps they are very knowledgeable regarding ecology, but would like to become more involved in human rights issues. To learn more, one can visit the Web sites of human rights organizations such as Amnesty International, Friends of Falun Gong, and Human Rights Watch. One can start helping by writing letters to the media, signing petitions, and expressing concerns to elected officials.
And these two issues, the environment and human rights, are deeply connected. The governments with the worst human rights records also have the worst environmental records. For instance, when East Germany and West Germany were reunited, the world learned how the former communist government of East Germany had riddled its territory with toxic waste dumps. Currently, many Olympic athletes from around the world cannot train in Beijing because of the severe air pollution there. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), with little regard for human life, has abysmal environmental and human rights records. Regarding the latter, it has been well know for years that many products exported from CCP-controlled lands are made in brutal forced-labor camps.
I firmly believe that in addition to raising our voices and illuminating facts, if we become very conscious of exactly how and where products are made, and we base our purchasing decisions on that awareness, we can quickly shift both human rights and the environment into safer directions. The key is for more people to start and to move forward.
Feeds