I was talking to my little (13 year old) sister today about consumerism and Epicurus and how attachments lead to suffering in the Buddhist context. She's quite mature for her age and is always open to learning more about life, but what surprised me was she already knew what Carbon Offsetting is!
Now when I was her age, a) there was no such thing as a carbon footprint and b) if there was I wouldn't have had a clue what you were talking about.
So we sat down together and watched 'The Story of Stuff'...
My point is... it's the future generations we need to teach, because they do care. They are the ones who will change, for the better. We just need to support them and teach them by example.
There is hope.
4 comments:
One person at a time. One conversation at a time.
J
http://adventuresinvoluntarysimplicity.blogspot.com/
So very true, young people care far more than we give them credit for!
My sister just completed her honours in Environmental Education. She found that children are really motivated to help their environment, but feel helpless because of media doomsday kind of stuff. We just need to teach children small practical steps, like managing the packaging in their own lunch box, and they are happy and relieved and proud to be helping.
So true emmani. The children are indeed our future, and my son learns more about the environment at primary school and practices it at home, than most adults are willing to learn themselves or even give two hoots about. It is up to us to lead by example and show them the way.
Gav
Post a Comment