It Is Your Choice

Dear reader,

The world is a confusing place to live in right now. So many things seem beyond our control, but there are things we can all do to effect change. Below you will find a text with a “choose your own eco-strategy“ adventure game format that can hopefully help you navigate the ecological crisis we find ourselves in, depending on where your environmental interests lie.

First, to get things rolling, a statement from a (fictional) finance mogul about his plans to save the oceans.

1.

“I have an idea. You are going to enjoy this. The idea isn‘t fully fleshed out yet, don‘t get me wrong, but it‘s still a great idea. We should get rid of the oil in the ocean. We use 2.7 million gallons of oil every minute. Oil is cheap and helpful in many ways. But it does, unfortunately, enter the ocean. This is what is destroying our environment. The idea is this: let’s build a huge machine that works like a pump, an over-sized one. It would work like a swimming pool pump and separate the oil and water. The oil would then get pumped into containers and the water would be put back into the ocean. Doesn't that sound amazing?

The research and development will cost 350 million euros. I know. That seems like a lot. But I have a lot of money and I want to spend it on important things for this planet. Sustainable energy is vital. You have to understand, I have been an ideas man my whole life and this has given me more money than I could have ever imagined, but it didn‘t bring me the happiness I was seeking. Now I know what I want to do. I want to give something back. To nature, to you. I will support this amazing project. You don't have to thank me. I must thank you.“

Here, a response to the mogul‘s plans. If you‘re sick and tired of hearing about big business, please skip ahead to point 3.

2.

These kind of investments happen every day. Or they‘re in planning, at least. Maybe this seems like a way to help planet Earth or at least the first step of thinking about helping. However, the origin of the investment money stems from oil companies. They buy oil cheaply and resell it for a higher price, own stocks, make certain jobs obsolete, and develop hidden oil fields in the deep sea. These are the people that are partially responsible for the climate emergency we are facing right now. It is highly dangerous to drill new pipes and unsafe to get oil out of the ground without causing any pollution. Eco-friendly oil companies simply do not exist. In addition, the mogul‘s project would only receive a fraction of the money in circulation. This mogul wants to get his own money back in the market, get it on ledger. In reality, he is actually hiding a transaction of 1.5 billion euros. Now how does that work? To get something back in the market - off ledger - you need a reason to make it happen. As sad as it is, that‘s all there is to his project idea. By pretending to be eco-conscious, the fictional tycoon just wants to be able to use his own money again. Moreover, this means that by supporting such a project, he can clean his oily money from the grime and filth. It really makes my stomach turn. Tragically, this is the world we are living in right now. The money chasing never stops and in order to make things appear ethical, a small amount is given to Mother Earth as a performative gesture. The most tragic thing about it is: in the end most projects just get stuck in the planning stage because the cost-benefit balance isn‘t worth it. Sometimes taking a closer look at the issues can really shake you to your core, but it‘s damn necessary.

If you have already seen Ali Tabrizi‘s documentary SEASPIRACY (2021) please skip ahead to number 4., if you want to know my eco-friendly tips for daily life go to number 5. Otherwise, please keep reading.

3.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. The entire catastrophic chain orchestrated by the market is unbelievable. When we look at our beautiful oceans, the plastic and oil aren‘t the only materials causing disastrous damage. A lot of these methods were thought to be cheaper for us in the short run. Humanity wanted to be efficient and forgot about the precious ground we live on. We have even begun to consume waste ourselves. Fish eat plastic particles, we eat the fish. On average, we eat a credit card-sized piece of plastic every week. These destructive methods have slowly overtaken our planet. The worst trend by far is industrial fishing. One day of industrial fishing is the equivalent of three months of oil pollution. 0.03% of plastic pollution are straws and 46% are fishing nets. The oceans are being ravaged and the amount of by-catch is tremendous. Since the ocean is emptying at such high speed, many living creatures pay the price. There‘s the purposeful extinction of dolphins in Taiji, Japan, for example, which is highlighted in the illuminating Netflix documentary SEASPIRACY. By killing these dolphins, they stop threatening the precious Tuna, a very expensive fish. Shark fin soup is also very expensive, so people are interested in getting these fish just to cut their fins, just like elephants are being killed for their ivory. This whole ordeal leads to that entire species being on the verge of extinction. First there‘s an imbalance and then everything crashes until there is no virtually chance of survival. The entire ecosystem could recover if fish remain in the sea. What I‘ve written here only presents a fraction of the dire situation we should all know about. I believe the first step of real change is knowledge. It becomes so much easier to act when you have knowledge and you can‘t look away anymore. Next up, the steps you can take in order to become a ‘wave maker.‘

If you want to learn more about water and ocean conservation, please keep reading. Otherwise please skip ahead to number 5.

4.

Adults are made up of around 70% percent water. Science has discovered that water has memory. French immunology professor Jacques Benveniste claimed that extremely high ultra- molecular dilutions of antibodies had effects on the human basophil activation test, a laboratory model of the immune system. Recently, German scientists found that water changes its structure when it’s affected by various objects. Moreover, after the objects were taken away, the water remembered what it was influenced by. The structure remains, until it is newly impacted. What makes me curious about this is the following inference: if the biggest water resource is influenced in a particular way, we are thereby influenced by it as well. In our case it is by pollution. We have a massive impact on this organism and we are also part of this organism.

In order to heal, we need to give nature the opportunity to heal itself by not interfering in the ecosystem anymore. The good thing is that the ocean has the power to recover at an immense speed. The only thing we have to do for this is to leave it alone, as Sea Shepherd Conservation Society Captain Paul Watson founder asserts. Research shows that if we let the ocean take care of itself, we'd be back on track by the year 2040. Or it can go in the opposite direction, we can continue as we have been and increase the damage every day. If this continues, the ocean will be empty by 2048. It is a choice. Right here, right now. There are two options. Which one do we want to take? Waiting for the big flood as Leonardo DiCaprio's documentary shows, or being the wave ourselves and making it happen to help the ocean ́s healing?

It is our choice. Your choice.

If you want to know about my everyday eco-friendly strategies, keep on reading.

5.

Activism is very important – it‘s clear that we are in a crisis. There are large-scale activist movements and geo-political policies you can get involved with and there are smaller, every day behavioral changes that any individual can do which matter as well. Here are some small things that I do in my life to make a change. I never put the heater on when I open windows. If the heater is left on, it would cause it to work at maximum power. When I need to go somewhere I use carpools, or better yet, public transportation. If it's not that far, I love riding my bike. I don‘t own a car, and there is really no need to have one in the world we are living in. I always take my own cutlery with me. It's really no expenditure at all. You put it in your bag, in the same spot, and there it stays, it‘s light and barely takes any space. If you enjoy eating with chopsticks, like I do, that's the simplest way. After I finish eating, I rinse them and that‘s it! This way I don‘t use single use, non-biodegradable plastics. According to the Ocean Conservancy, cutlery is one of the most deadly items to sea turtles, birds, and mammals.

I take a cup wherever I go. I take my favorite one and it also gives me a cozy feeling wherever I am, so it can improve the environment and your general well-being! Think about it. When you throw away a plastic cup, where does it go? The cup‘s journey doesn't end with the trash bin. The same goes for clothes. I love wearing trendy clothes. But they do not always have to be new. I mean, there’s even the “used look“ trend. Instead of buying new clothes that looked used, how about exchanging clothes with your friends or going to a second hand shop and buying good looking trousers? If they‘re well taken care of, you often can’t tell they are second- hand. Mass production is destroying our planet, and there is an easy alternative for it. When I don ́t want to wear something anymore, I love to donate it to the salvation army or to a theater‘s prop department. Everything is reusable and you can make people really happy with it.

Separating waste is not difficult, and if you are a little bit OCD like me, it is actually fun to organize things. Most importantly, you are doing so much for planet Earth just by organizing. A friend of mine just bought a so-called “cooking box“. It works like an oven, only with solar energy - a truly renewable energy source. I think this sounds amazing! Be open to getting inspired by eco-friendly ideas from your environment. I am a fan of solar panels and windmills. I will keep on signing open petitions to support making a change in politics on these crucially important topics. There are many online platforms and they‘re easy to find. What I'd love to see is cities turning off all the city lights at night. Maybe we could start doing it just once a year, perhaps increasing it to once a month. Then everyone would know about it and just stay home on that night. It is a simple shift, but it has a huge impact. We can learn from our current situation. If people can rise to the occasion when a pandemic happens (and pandemics will probably be more prevalent due to the climate crisis), why shouldn‘t they when the world we are living in is falling apart?

A couple of months ago I stopped eating fish. Not because I don't like it. Besides it not being healthy anymore, knowing about the destruction it hinders me from enjoying it. There is no balance between production and rebuilding when it comes to sustainability. Safely canned and sustainable fishing don't exist anymore. I am a stress and rescue diver and once you see the stunning beauty of sea life, the calmness and pristine world that is down there - which covers 71% of everything there is on the planet - you cannot help but fall in love. The damage and threat to all living creatures just breaks your heart, watching reefs die, losing their colors and life. My brother went to Indonesia. He participated in something called “Reef Planting“ there. You dive down to the nearly dying reefs, a net with a special voltage is placed on the corals. The energy comes solely only from the sun and it sends small triggers to the reef, it works like resuscitation. Slowly the corals can recover and prosper, spread out and overgrow the nets. The nets don`t do any harm, so they can remain there. This is something I plan to do as soon as possible. Mobilizing groups that have the same interests as me and helping revive nature is my long term plan. Opening up a diving school together with my brother and organizing such programs would be amazing.

Thank you for reading so far, if you share my opinion that taking care of the environment is our responsibility and you are interested in cultivating a more eco-friendly life, keep on reading. Otherwise you are always free to leave.

6.

One important thing is to stay informed and keep reading and writing about it. That's why I am really grateful to our team here at Vocal! Even though there are many other troubles, even if the news only contains a limited amount of information, these problems aren‘t going away. Stay aware and act! It is that simple. The one thing the oil mogul and I can agree on is: It ́s the simple things that can make a difference. But it is always a matter of perspective. The perspective you decide to see and therefore act on is also a choice, whether you decide to see reality or you choose to say “I don't believe in climate change.“

Everyone knows the carbon dioxide levels are rising, causing further damage to the ozone layer and pollution that goes beyond the ocean. There is a chain reaction triggered by every step we decide to take. Oil is just one example, plastic is another - it litters our coasts. From Hawaii, over the Red Sea, to Indonesia - waste covers countless areas on Earth. We live here and we don‘t have an alternate planet. Quite a lot of research has gone into how to make Mars habitable for humans, but it’s still ages away and we don’t have the luxury of time. Earth is our home. You could think: I‘m insignificant, in the grand scheme of things. How does what I do matter? Together we created the world's population. Each and every one of us is as important as the entire world, because we are creating it. We are the world. We are active figures in this. So we can also become game changers. We have to keep that in mind, despite all the cruelty in this world. Each individual is capable of making a difference by doing simple things. It will affect the market and the market will be forced to respond. We are the world, we are all part of it and all of your actions have consequences. It is also important to remember that we are guests in this world. We took it over and with that also comes responsibility: taking care of it. Of our home. It falls on us. We are the change. We are the wave makers.