Since beginning of this semester I have noticed a tremendous difference in how often I think about the environment around me. I believe this is due to a number of influences.
– Dr. Wasserman’s Science in Perspective class
– Being in a new environment (yes, France is still new…)
– Traveling to other cities and countries
– Social Media
Since taking this class I have learned a lot. I feel better informed and feel that I can use this knowledge to come to my own personal conclusions about the environment. It has also trained my brain to be curious about pretty much everything and to look for the very present connections to our environment. Even though I have lived in France since August it still has a “non-home” feel to it. Obviously, it is not my home. But there is still a newness in the French environment that I am learning about. Another thing that is very interesting to observe is the difference within Europe. When I travel to other cities and countries I find myself not only comparing it with my home in Texas but with my home away from home in Angers.
“The slower you go, the more you discover the wonder of it. But if you really want to know it’s riches. you have to become its inhabitant.” – Bernard Charbonneau 1991
Below are some observations through photos. Some are comparisons to other places I’ve visited and others are thing I have learned about my surroundings while traveling.
P.S. No matter what city I visit my fitbit loves to inform me that I reach MINIMUM 20,000 steps everyday while exploring. My feet hurt.
Birds in France
Birds in London’s Hyde Park.
Giant mushrooms
Growing mushrooms
Mushrooms
Shiittake mushrooms. Grow in forests of Japan due to earth quake vibrations
Wine. These barrels and everything that goes into making wine has a long natural process. The wood of the barrels can influence the flavor and quality of wine.
In Italy while waiting for my train, a coal burning engine came into the station. Even though it was a scenic train for tourists I was very surprised they were using it. I sat and watched as the steam and pollution steamed out of it. Crazy!
Throughout Italy there were these very tall pines. Apparently, the pines grow slanted due to the winds. Near the coast, I saw these same type of trees along the roads and they were all bent over because of the incoming sea winds. Very interesting.
As I’m walking through some ruins in Roma I saw this guy! A big black bunny running through one of the tiny gardens. I started thinking about how this is it’s home and its adapted to having tons of people walk through his home. What a brave bunny!
Flowers outside of the Mushroom Museum
Fall in London
One of the biggest influencers of the environment that I have noticed lately is in the media.
Like I said, my mind has constantly been asking quiet questions and wondering about the things around me. In my last post I discussed the increasing knowledge of the environment via social media. New research I found goes into more depth. While most of the research doesn’t go into much detail about the effects that displaying environmental issues on media has, it does talk about how to properly use it to our advantage to win the war on all things killing our environment. I have come to the conclusion that there is not much research on the effects because social media is such a new outlet. Social Media has not been around long enough to fully comprehend the influence is has and how to use it properly. People are just now starting to really take advantage of social media and use it for their causes today.
Lana Pajdas mentions a very trendy way companies have been getting followers to join in on the action and be aware of their environment. Pajdas explains that “one of the most practiced ways to get followers and action is to encourage users to win prizes [through contests].” I personally have witnessed this throughout my social media feeds as well. Even when it’s not environmentally related, companies and bloggers are constantly looking for ways to get their followers’ attention and action.
Usually when I notice a movement via social media it’s because of “hashtags” aka “#.” This is a clever way to get people to pay attention and play along. Also, celebrities or companies will start this trend to gather a large amount of traffic to their site and for their cause. It goes like this: a company posts a photo relating to their cause and announces some new contest or theme. Along with the theme they tell their viewers about the hashtag that they want to associate with the theme and ask their viewers to post photos tagging the hashtag. This is an easy way to spread the word and the companies don’t have to lift a finger. This practice could seem annoying. However, if used to promote environmental friendliness and awareness, we could easily make a dent in the environmental discussions.
In an article on the website humanitariancentre.org, ways to properly use social media is displayed. Media is described as “an open box of potential” and the “kind of activity [that can help] raise awareness of environmental issues and engage a broad audience in environmental campaigns.” This is exactly correct. So far, I have seen many photos of the beautiful outdoors and people being active in their environments. If certain companies or foundations began to use social media in this fashion for environmental causes, they could start a discussion for the whole world to join in on.
Below is a chart from this website that shows how to use social media and the benefits.
Basically, all it takes is for someone to start the conversation and get followers to play along. To tweet and tag and post photos related to the discussion. People will be paying attention to environmental issues more than ever before.
One example of a social movement via social media is the zero waste movement mentioned in Pandas’ article. People took to twitter and instagram to start the trend #zerowastemovement (seen below).
Two twitter pages along with many individual tweets.
In relation to this zero waste movement, a supermarket in Germany has become the first ever “package-free supermarket” (Lavars). This supermarket requires consumers to provide all their own baggage and packaging for anything they want to purchase in the store.
I came across a passage in the Light Green Society and part of it says, “A majority of French citizens now believes that “sustainable development” – while it certainly begins at home – will fail unless it takes hold globally (Bess 155). This fits perfectly with what I’m talking about. Once social media is properly used – and by the looks of things we are headed the right direction – this global awareness will indeed become global. Social media could be a huge player in the game that is saving earth.
Sources:
Bess, Michael. The Light-Green Society: Ecology and Technological Modernity in France, 1960-2000. City of Publication: University of Chicago Press, 2003. Book.
Lavars, Nick. “Germany’s First Waste-free Supermarket about to Open Its Doors.” Germany’s First Waste-free Supermarket about to Open Its Doors. Gizmag, 3 June 2014. Web. 08 Nov. 2015.
Pajdas, Lana. “Environmental Issues on Social Media.” Linkedin. N.p., 24 June 2014. Web. 7 Nov. 2015.
“Social Networking and the Environment.” (n.d.): n. pag. Web. 6 Nov. 2015 (http://www.humanitariancentre.org)
Twitter. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Nov. 2015