Author: Joshua Perry

When will it stop?

When will the use and abuse have its end?

Don’t men already have enough?

There’s only so much Earth can lend.

 

The one who has given men everything

Men give her nothing.

The one who has given men food,

Men call her crude.

The one who has given men water,

Her oceans we slaughter.

The one who has given men shelter,

Her air men swelter.

But, the one who has given men air,

Men can no longer impair.

 

But food, water and shelter isn’t enough.

We need more buildings and technology to show how cool men are.

“Live life to the fullest!” “You only live once!” may be man’s excuse.

But it’s only so accurate in that man’s end is not too far.

Does that justify the abuse?

 

Man’s leaders will tell them: “It’s fine. No need to worry.”

“Climate change doesn’t exist and the end is certainly not soon.”

There are bigger things to talk about. Make America Great Again.

But will America be so great if men did nothing to stop their impending doom?

 

Pressure to use less only results in strife.

Men say, “Wow, you tree huggers are delirious”

“Look man, I don’t care. I have a life!”

But life is not an entitlement. It’s only a gift.

Earth will take it back. So, it’s time to get serious.

 

So stop it now. Save the trees; build less.

Earth has begun to grow a little tired of men’s selfishness.

How long do you expect a woman to put up with man’s demand?

“Whatever, let’s see!” But, in a few years, man may be eating out of an empty hand.

 

Remember that Earth doesn’t rely on men; men rely on her.

When men have met their end. She will still be here.

She will not be hurt and man’s demise, she will not deter.

But I’m sure even all of this still fails to instill men with fear.

 

So what will it take? The answer is beyond me.

I guess no one’s afraid of death

So I ask again; when will it stop?

When the last man has reached his last breath.

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“Ugchh, Uckhh…This is the end.”

The human race committed suicide,

And all could have been prevented if Earth’s resources we didn’t so irrationally spend.

But we didn’t care. So, we suffered the consequences. We just withered and died.

Why? Because we will never Stop.

Joshua B. Perry

Sustainability. We hear such a term often. However, not many know it’s meaning. The more optimistic of us conceptualizes it as movement to a more eco-friendly society. The more pessimistic of us entitles it to a hindrance on normative lifestyles; surrendering the things we value (foods, water use, and electricity) for sole survival of nature. Whether optimist or pessimist, neither of two suffice. The optimist is too forward in his/her generalization of the concept, while the pessimist does not consider the proper values based on stereotype and prejudice toward media’s portrayal of the concept. Falling too far on either side of the optimistic-pessimistic spectrum can be hindrance on sustainability itself.

Allow me to provide a scenario.

A girl and guy, who have never previously met, are sitting down for lunch. The guy orders a large hamburger with bacon and every other meet one can think of. However, the girl orders a small salad. Noticing guys ‘meatful’ meal, the girl is prompted to discuss the harms of the foods that he is eating. The girl proceeds to discuss the horrors of GMOs and factory farming. Not only does she criticize his diet, she begins discussing the importance of sustainability, barring on the fact that the guy is not being sustainable in his food choice.

There are a few things wrong with this picture.

The girl is the optimist. She understands the value of being eco-friendly and feels the need teach others the same. However, she seems to think that the idea of eating meats is unsustainable and expresses that notion to the guy. The guy is the pessimist. He doesn’t quite understand what being sustainable is other than the ‘tree huggers’ and ‘nature worshipers’ he’s seen on TV. The girls confrontation with him only furthers the guys prejudice toward sustainability.

In reality, sustainability may appear as a hard concept to describe. Can anyone truly form one unfalsifiable definition? More than likely, one can’t. That’s because we are all considering the wrong factors. I know the first idea that comes to mind is behavioral factors such as greener diets, using less electricity, composting, and recycling. However, neither of those define sustainability. Sustainabilty, in its most simple definition, is ‘awareness’.

This is not quite what you were probably thinking, but allow me to explain.

Sustainability is the deliberate awareness of the actions we make in our everyday- lives. It’s knowing the consequence of every action we make. When we throw away trash, it asking ourselves: Where is it going and what happens to it after? Does it get recycled? Does it just go to a landfill? Even when taking a shower, you could ask yourself: Where is is the water coming from? How much of it am I using? Where is it going when it goes down the drain?

The answers to these questions is what changes behavior. It is what pushes us to be more eco-friendly, because we are aware of the consequences of our actions. Sustainability is not being optimistic or pessimistic. It is the most simple thing we can do – PAY ATTENTION.

 

• Joshua Perry