For most issues, citizens follow the laws that are set in place by the government, and in turn, the government helps by ‘supposedly’ solving the country’s issues. But when it comes to mother earth, the planet we call our home, some people cannot wait for our government to act. These people are activists. They come together to fight for public concerns, and it is when they do this that they are able to make significant change. According to Zukin, this is called civic engagement, and is a trend that society is turning towards. Zukin writes about how although an individual’s effort may not be recognized widely, when many individuals combine their efforts, considerable change is possible.
One of the most prominent examples of environmentally enthusiastic people coming together to solve issues affecting the planet is Greenpeace. They have worked with many arenas of the environmental world, a main one being deforestation. One of the more recent issues they took on is the massive deforestation that is occurring throughout Indonesia.
Although Indonesia is a fairly undeveloped country, this extreme forest destruction has ranked it the 3rd largest greenhouse gas emitter in the world, following China and the US. The reason for this is that the quickest, most effective way to clear the peatlands covering Indonesia is burning them down, unleashing huge amounts of greenhouse gases from the carbon rich soil. According to Greenpeace and its affiliates, 1/5 of carbon emissions are due to logging, which equals out to be more than planes, trains, and automobiles combined!
Not only is the logging in Indonesia’s rainforests causing serious damage to our planet, but it is also occuring in the one place left on earth that the Orangutan lives in the wild. If logging continues on at the rate it is going today, it is estimated that the beautiful orange primate could be extinct within 6 years.
So, what exactly is all this logging for? So that the Indonesian government and farmers can replace the peatlands with trees that produce palm oil, a natural resource used to many products we use and eat today, including candy bars and soap! The palm oil industry and the immense deforestation occurring in Indonesia has made it the #1 producer of palm oil in the world.
Luckily, with the combined forces of volunteers working together, Greenpeace has been able to make significant steps in preventing the colossal logging in Indonesia. With the help of the media, Greenpeace was able to get both Nestle and Dove to join their efforts and to stop using palm oil that is the result of forest destruction.
Although Greenpeace is standing strong in the fight to save the forests and critters in Indonesia, it is going to take a lot more to save the planet. It is up to the citizens of planet earth to show their civic pride and join their efforts together to make sure that deforestation everywhere comes to and end. Join in!
-Maya Koziol
-Maya Koziol
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