In recent years, the issue of people believing in significance of protecting the environment, but not contributing to the cause has come to the fore. From where I am standing, this is a complex social phenomenon, and the ways of approaching it are numerous.
There are many reasons why general populace might wish to opt out of environmentalism. However, from my perspective, most people are afraid that their attempts will end up futile, and I am convinced that this reason eclipses almost all the other ones. The underlying logic here is that upon receiving unnerving news about ecological issues over prolonged period of time, it is easy to lose hope in effectiveness of any measure one could undertake in their daily life. For instance, according to various independent media sources, international corporations can be considered one of the main factors contributing to the global warming. Since affecting the course of action of an international enterprise is a rather challenging task, even the most determined and environmentally responsible activists might develop learned helplessness, hence losing any motivation to act.
However, there are many ways of encouraging individuals to take action. As a society, we could actively spread the awareness about the most pressing ecological issues or, for example, push for revision of questionable local environmental policies. Nevertheless, none of those measures would be effective without creating communities. By offering a sense of belonging to the group of like-minded people and providing an opportunity to act collectively, it is possible to convince the hesitant ones to take smaller steps to helping the planet. This can be realised by organising community cleanups or funding local green projects.
All things considered, it is easy to assume that one’s actions do not tend to have consequences when it comes to guarding the environment. Having said that, I am also firmly convinced that it is not infeasible to mobilise collective action in order to pressure share knowledge and create protect biodiversity.