Source: www.collectivelyconscious.net | Original Post Date: February 13, 2016 –
In 2014 we learned from the Living Planet Report (1) published by the Worldwide Fund For Nature that over a period of 40 years from 1970 to 2010 the populations of mammals, birds, reptiles and fish have declined by 52% due to human environmental impact. Well done, human race! Great job!
“If the bee disappears from the surface of the earth, man would have no more than four years to live” ~ Albert Einstein
We also know that one insect that we are so dependent on, the bee, has been disappearing in recent decades with an especially huge decline in recent years. In the last 5 years the bee population in the US alone has declined by 30% and particularly in Spain by around 80% (2)!
It isn’t entirely certain what has caused this crisis, but there is strong evidence that it is closely connected to human activity: artificial electromagnetic fields, genetically modified crops and pesticides to name just a few factors. Bees aren’t merely necessary to sweeten our teas, they are essential for our sheer survival. Bees pollinate our crops and it is estimated that at least one third (3) of the food we eat is linked in some way to the pollination process. Human activity is threatening the ecosystem and we are depleting natural resources very quickly. Some resources like minerals or fossil fuels that are fundamental to almost everything we do today take millions of years to develop and we might only have a few decades left for most of them. It is estimated that if nothing changes by 2030 we will need two planets to sustain our lifestyle (4).
But environmental degradation is only one of many burning issues that we face today. We are living through wars based on lies, diseases, poverty, famine, corruption etc.
Once you start learning and teaching yourself about the world we live in, you will start to see how insane our behavior is as human beings. It might not seem this way when we are concerned with day to day problems related to our work, family or relationships, but it is a clear and present danger which affects us all, undermining the very future of this planet.
There are two vital tools needed to improve our life on this planet and start living more sustainably: education and compassion. Both have to be used together. You can be educated and have knowledge but you can use it to create evil, that is why the second element is necessary. You can use your education to build a nuclear weapon but you can also use it to build sustainable technologies.
Let’s start with education. We need better access to this, one of the problems is that it can be expensive, because universities often charge very high fees. Studying is also often associated with something unpleasant. Thankfully we have the Internet where more and more free and reliable educational resources appear every year and in all sorts of formats. One of them isAweditoria – the project that me and my partner Bozhidar Genev have been working on in the last year. Aweditoria is all about sharing small stories, ideas, concepts, summaries and quotes based on different interests such as science, spirituality, personal development, business, technology, health, activism and etc. What often is the case is that, when you read something, let’s say an article, you will find that the essence or the best part is contained within a small piece of the full text, and it summarizes the idea that the author tries to convey. This is the basis of Aweditoria, our users share those small text snippets from different sources on the web, the end result of which is a feed with small stories and ideas (in the form of compressed content). Publishers and bloggers, such as Learning Mind, Higher Perspective, Sustainable Human, TruthTheory are active on Aweditoria, sharing their best paragraphs. Authors and regular users can annotate stories, helping others to understand them better.
Imagine that there is a concept that is hard to grasp, and someone who understands it well can explain it to you using their own words or providing additional resources, like links to other pages, images or videos. This is one of the features of Aweditoria. The idea behind Aweditoria is to help anyone to learn as much as possible in the shortest time possible.
Education is necessary to change the world, but without compassion it is not enough. Unfortunately most of us only focus on ourselves and our families, our own wealth and pleasures. This is what has got us into the mess I spoke about before. We have to start becoming less selfish. We need to start thinking more maturely, stop labeling ourselves by nationality, race or religion. These are man-made labels, but the truth is that we are human beings and we are dependent on other life forms on this planet and this planet is our home. We should care about the whole community and live in harmony with what surrounds us. There are many ways in which we can spread kindness and help the planet.
Here are just a few:
– give away old clothes to charity
– recycle
– research brands and try to avoid buying from those less ethical
– support local communities and ethical companies
– start blogging and educating others about what matters and how the world works
– sign petitions
– protest peacefully
– get involved in charity work
– encourage rather than criticize
– become vegetarian
– give away your seat on the bus to someone who needs it more than you
These are just some random acts that anyone can make time for. But as I said before, the most powerful partnership is when you mix kindness and education together. Start by changing yourself and making better choices.
If you want to try out Aweditoria you can sign up here. It only takes few seconds.
Sources:
http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/all_publications/living_planet_report/
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jonentine/2013/04/11/science-collapse-disorder-the-real-story-behind-neonics-and-mass-bee-deaths/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zgc5w-xyQa0
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2008/oct/29/climatechange-endangeredhabitats
Written by Mike Sygula of www.collectivelyconscious.net
About the Author
Mike Sygula is a blogger and activist promoting alternative ideas to raise public consciousness of the important issues facing humankind. He is currently involved in Aweditoria that he co-founded with his partner Bozhidar Genev. It is a new social service where people can share small stories and ideas based on their interests. You can check out Aweditoria by clickinghere and you can follow Mike on Facebook.
This article (Education Plus Compassion – How To Change The World) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Mike Sygula and www.collectivelyconscious.net.