“Be the change you wish to see, for now the moment is passing.”

By Emily Knowles
https://twitter.com/envirorhodent
483 words

My parents are “Clandestine Hippies,” mention LSD or free love and you will be chased from the house with a threatening shoe; but broach the current environmental crisis our world faces and you will be ushered into the living room, fed far too much wine and enter into an intense conversation about greenhouse gases. When my sister graduated as an environmental scientist and was not sporting a handmade, tie-dye dress, my parents were ecstatic - she could do no wrong.
 Upon commencing my new life at Rhodes University, I have found my passion. To my absolute glee it causes a degree of gloating to escape my mother’s lips.
 “I LOVE OUR PLANET.” There, I said it. I’ve officially come out of the closet! This closet is a dark and dingy place where capitalist greed has caused poor policies that have encroached upon natural habitats and poisoned some of the most breathtaking landscapes I’ve ever seen. But enough with all that heavy talk...My aim is not to depress you.

My postings will be for the student, by the student. I intend to analyse intellectual blogs and make their mundane, incomprehensible and often tedious information fascinating.
I want to redefine the stereotypes given to the environmentally concerned. Being pro-active does not make us hippies, green machines or “those odd, naked folk who have hairy armpits and sit in trees.” It simply earns us a reputation as a generation that is no longer resigned to accepting the guilt of our fore-fathers environmental degradation. The dynamo our society needs to spur others on. With effortless acts we can make society not just cease their guilt trip, but be part of a ‘pay it forward’ scheme dedicated to ourselves and simply displaying our inherent desire for self-preservation.
 I am not proposing Greenpeace style anarchy. This is mainly because they are a rubbish organisation, but more about that argument another, sunny day. I simply write in order to nurture your inner Clandestine Hippy so that when you walk past a blooming petal; you will smell it, maybe put it in your hair and remember exactly why you want to preserve your verdant surrounds.

This blog will consist of global environmental news, summaries of new discoveries and ways that you can implement them in your daily life. Lastly, I intend to analyse contemporary policies, regulations and traditions that are of concern. This will not only help you look a little more impressive to your tutor, but encourage a community where an awareness to contemporary, vital and key issues can be discussed in an interactive way.

I intend to make my passion my future. Utilising political skills, I will advocate and increase environmental subsistence living at economical rates in the developing world. Furthermore, with my journalism, I will continue the plight to change the minds of corporations who have the resources and funding capabilities to increase and preserve bio-diverse habitats.