Why I am voting “green”

As we always talk about, individual sustainability is important,

being aware is important,

taking the bike or train instead of the car is important,

taking produce bags and not buying plastic bottles is important.

No matter how small or seemingly meaningless the act – the decision to take the plastic bag or buy the plastic bottle is still is a choice and there still is an outcome.

You refusing the bottles or the bags creates no demand on your end. You are not supporting the products, they are not ending up in landfill because of you and because you are not alone you are part of the many people that are saying "no" and creating less trash.

By taking the bag or bottle you are creating demand, throwing it away, releasing it to landfills and financially supporting big oil and whatever company had any part in creating the product.

So of course EVERY action makes a difference because every action has an impact.

This world is big and connected and structured in ways where power and decision making are channeled there, where the money and economic power lies.

Which is why 100 companies in this world are responsible for 71 % of global emissions.

So the decision about polluting or not polluting lies in only a few hands.

The billionaires, oil moguls and big industries like agricultural, pharmaceutical, and energy companies are who basically run the world.

Responsible for policy changes, laws, rules, regulations and “overseeing” all of this are of course governments, politicians, law makers,…

Who more often than not are funded and heavily influenced by the big, powerful industries.

And this may make some shake their heads and speculate on me being a conspiracy theorist or pessimist or something along those lines,

but the fact of the matter is that we are seeing the way the world is run.

The planet is in bad shape, we are running in danger of extinction in the next few centuries if we are to continue like this.

(average global temperatures rising by up to 6C would have irreversible consequences for the Earth, making large parts of the planet uninhabitable and threatening the basis of human civilization, according to the latest IPCC report arise of 3.5 to 4 C is a possibility by the end of the century)

and governments are continuing to subsidize ancient energy sources like coal,

not taking any preventative measures to stop or change anything about the climate crisis but instead pouring billions into cleaning up after disasters and then continuing business as usual after giving some half hearted speeches in a flooded or burnt down town on live television wearing wellies and a fake smile to show their "support".

Continuing to make promises about environmental matters they never intend to keep just to turn around to nod off the longest LNG pipeline in the world while reducing funding for renewable energies and setting up regulations that make the wait for a permit to set up a windmill 5-7 years with the windmill having to be further away from any house or neighborhood than a landfill, coal-fired power station or an open pit mine with blasting would have to be.

Mad! Isn’t it?

And that ladies and gentlemen is why I am voting “green”.

More specifically the green party in Germany called “Die Gruenen”.

Why anybody would be hesitant to vote for a green party in 2021 in the midst of a pandemic and the climate crisis is a puzzling to me.

It doesn’t matter how sustainable you are in your everyday life if you are living within a system that does not make sustainability accessible, a government that does not make policy changes in favor for the people and the environment.

And specifically in Germany even if you don’t like the chancellor of the green party or are thinking up 1000 reasons as to why you should not vote green and that windmills are ugly...

That doesn’t matter.

You are not just voting for one person.

You are voting for an entire party.

You are voting for the young people within that party and giving the generation who will actually be living with these issues a voice.

You are literally, at this point, voting for your future.

You are voting for the positive changes that you want to see in this world.

This is not just about left and right. Blue or red.

This is about starting to clean up messes and formulating real, tangible and realistic plans to help secure a livable ,healthy future on this planet and NOT wasting the opportunity to preserve life, preserve resources and stay below 1.5 C just because a few big shots are worried that their value on the stock market will go down.

No more of that.

You are given a choice and you will decide what type of future you want.

Thank you everybody for reading and please share your

thoughts, feelings, opinions, worries, .... via a private message on my Instagram account if you like !

Thank you for reading💚

See ya next blog👋🏼

Cheers,

Stella