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An example of Great Turning is resistance and renewal—people growing food, protecting land, choosing care over convenience. Personally, I’m turning away from numbness and toward active hope, doing what I can to live with more awareness and integrity. These small choices may not change the world overnight, but they help write a different story with connection and resilience.

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A common narrative I hear is that endless economic growth is both natural and necessary. This “business as usual” mindset treats nature as a commodity and avoids questioning the deeper values driving our systems. It encourages us to keep consuming and competing, rather than pausing to ask whether this path is truly sustainable.

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When I consider our world situation, I’m most troubled by how climate change, inequality, and political instability are intensifying together. These crises don’t affect everyone equally, those in vulnerable regions or with fewer resources face the harshest consequences. We've gotten here through a long history of exploitation and now we're watching the unraveling of systems that were never truly sustainable to begin with.

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I think this article provides a new insight on how we can change our perspective and view the world differently. I think that people will do what is most convenient and good for them, but we also need to change our perspective and think about Indigeneous perspectives and the community. We also can change each other's individual perspective and make the change that is beyond our common thinking.

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I see signs of the Great Turning in small but meaningful ways around me. More people I know are talking about sustainability, questioning consumerism, and trying to live in ways that are more mindful, whether that is through eating less meat, buying secondhand, or learning about Indigenous perspectives on land and community. Personally, I have been turning up by engaging more deeply with environmental courses like this course, trying to stay informed, and having conversations with friends and family about these issues.

I am turning away from the mindset that individual actions do not matter. It is easy to feel powerless, but I have realized that staying silent or disconnected just allows harmful systems to keep going. I am also trying to turn away from always needing to be productive and instead give more time to rest, reflection, and connection with nature.

I am turning toward alternative ways of thinking, slowing down, caring more about relationships than achievements, and reimagining what a good life looks like beyond just material success. It is not always easy, but it feels more honest and aligned with what the world really needs right now.

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One common “business as usual” narrative I hear a lot is that economic growth is always good, no matter the cost. There’s this idea that if we just grow the economy enough, everything else will fall into place, even if it means destroying ecosystems or widening inequality. I also often see land treated purely as a resource, as if land is something to be bought, sold, and developed, rather than respected as a living system or home. In the media and politics, there’s a lot of focus on innovation and “green growth,” but rarely do we question the deeper assumptions driving endless consumption or ask what kind of growth actually improves life for people and the planet.

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When I think about our world today, I worry about the pace of climate change, mass extinction, and environmental collapse. Forests are disappearing, oceans are polluted, and we’re using more resources than the Earth can sustain. At the same time, inequality is rising. A small portion of the world consumes most of the resources, while others, often the least responsible, suffer the worst effects. It is frustrating to see how much corporate power and short-term thinking get in the way of real solutions.

What troubles me most is how normal all of this has become. Even with wildfires, floods, and rising temperatures, many governments and companies carry on like nothing is wrong. Climate change hits vulnerable communities hardest, and there is a real risk that we are approaching tipping points that could cause irreversible damage. I also think people are becoming disconnected from nature, which makes it harder to care or act.

It is important to be clear that not everyone is equally responsible. Wealthier, industrialized countries have driven a lot of this damage through systems rooted in colonization and exploitation. In contrast, many Indigenous communities have long embraced a more reciprocal and respectful relationship with the land. If we want real change, we need to question the systems and worldviews that got us here in the first place.

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I see the “Great Turning” reflected in growing grassroots efforts: urban farming, Indigenous-led conservation, climate education, and fossil fuel divestment. Personally, I’m turning up by engaging with this course and educating myself about sustainability and justice. I’m turning away from convenience-based thinking and passive hope. I’m turning toward intentional choices, like consuming less, supporting climate movements, and recognizing my responsibility within a larger system of life.

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There are "business-as-usual" tales about—"tale such as we must have endless economic growth or technology will rescue us without altering life or systems. These tales place nature in the role of something to be consumed and also discount our planet's ecological limits. These allow can-kicking and do-nothinging even if we recognize the path we're on isn't going to work.".

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If I look to our global conditions, most troubling to me are the connected crises of nature loss, climate, and rising inequality. Those crises do not land on us equally—poor, Indigenous, and Global South people bear disproportionately the brunt of environmental collapse and economic collapse. Worst of all is the degree to which those crises have spread, and how much work it appears to take to shift communal priorities from short-term gain to long-term survival and justice.

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As discussed in this week’s first lecture, “we have exceeded the key planetary boundaries that would define the Earth as an operating space for humanity.”

As is becoming increasingly known globally, some threats we face today include climate change from, for instance, greenhouse gas emissions, freshwater pollution and ocean acidification both attributed to things like chemical pollution, biodiversity loss from habitat destruction, and stratospheric ozone depletion. “We”, meaning those living within and benefiting from global industrialized systems (at least that’s how I would classify the “we” for now), arrived at this point through the prioritization of short-term gain over long-term planetary health (e.g., according to the Climate Disclosure Project, “100 corporations are responsible for 71% of GHG emissions between 1988 and 2015”). What particularly troubles me is the persistent lack of acknowledgement for the aforementioned threats amongst humanity overall. Despite overwhelming evidence that industrial growth models and capitalism have led us into an ecological crisis, there still seems to be this adamant faith that those same systems will somehow save us (e.g., technological advancement in recent years has proven so powerful that it will surely help us mitigate the effects of climate change). In addition, ignoring/dismissing these environmental issues entirely has become a popular strategy for preserving comfort…… but where will that get us in the long run?

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One positive thing that I have noticed is that more people are beginning to look after the environment and make little changes, like less use of plastic, eating less meat, or biking rather than driving. I believe that's all part of the Great Turning since it shows that people are becoming more conscious and trying to live more wisely.

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The Great Unravelling: one of the many threats human societies face today include pollution. I believe pollution is tied to the industrialization revolution of the 19th century. During this period, a large focus was on mass-production and manufacturing efficiency to help keep costs low. Potential negative impacts on the environment weren’t concerning to the decision makers who increased manufacturing to an all-time high. Competition between countries around the world regarding the manufacturing of products influenced this shift as well.

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I see hope in the way that more people are talking about mental health and sustainability, and how that we are becoming more like a community rather than being individualized.

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Some positive changes Ive seen in recent years is the change in the cosmetic industry where less chemicals that harm the environment are being used especially those that have been historically known to be harmful towards coral reefs.

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I would say, common story I see all the time is that endless growth is normal - like the idea that more buildings, more tech, and more profit automatically mean progress. We treat land and nature like they’re just tools for development, not like they have value on their own. It’s like no one stops to ask if this way of living is actually sustainable long term.

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Something that troubles me is how slow our collective response to the environmental crisis has been, especially from countries like ours (ie. Canada, or US) that have historically contributed the most to environmental damage. Even though we’ve known about them for decades, we still prioritize profit over planet.

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Wants to remain stagnant, unable to accept that the environment is changing and that it is unable to continue supporting the lifestyle.

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Hope, forms are about recycling, using less energy, composting. However, there should be more permanent changes

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A positive change I have recently seen that connects to "The Great Turning" narrative is the elimination of the production and use of plastic grocery bags. Although this seems to be a step towards limiting the harmful and non-biodegradable bags, it has also caused a high influx of material bags that pollute the environment differently. I know that my family accumulates these reusable bags at times, which makes me wonder if they are doing all good. Nonetheless, it is still a step that seems to be correlated to this great turning.

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The great unraveling things includes the climate change. Nowadays I am in China, the extreme weather are becoming more often. For example, the sandstorms happen every time during the year. This situation is not quite common when I was young. The climate change causes the land loses its ability to hold sands and sandstorms happened as well.

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One of the significant concerns that are overlooked is the mental health crisis (another perspective other than environmental) caused by constant digital stimulation, social media, and surveillance capitalism.

We're information-overloaded, screen-addicted, and socially isolated while being "connected." This virtual space heightens anxiety, depression, and burnout and separates us from the somewhat close yet also out of reach society/life.

What really bothers me is that technology, which was meant to help us, is actually being used to grab our attention and fuel consumerism. The "we" in this case are all those who reside in a highly connected world, but poorer communities might get harmed more since they have fewer mental health resources and offline safe spaces.

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This is the most familiar story , it’s the one we hear all the time in the news and from politicians: that we just need more economic growth and new technologies to fix everything. I see this mindset when people say things like “we’ll figure it out later” or keep buying fast fashion and using single-use plastics. It’s frustrating because it ignores the root causes and keeps us stuck in harmful patterns. It’s also scary how normalized this way of thinking is , even though we know it’s not sustainable.

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Although it’s still in the process, I feel hopeful learning about the many solutions we have in effort to restore the Earth’s planetary boundaries back to a safe zone, such as methods of removing more CO2 from the atmosphere by using ocean iron fertilizers, or using solar mirrors and reflective aerosols to help increase albedo as an alternative to our melting ice sheets

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