Be warned the mac n cheese will have a distinct smell, but it will still be tasty!

The only part that I didn't like about the mac n cheese is that it contains palm oil (organic). I tend to avoid consuming products that have palm oil because it encourages deforestation. However, it is up to you to decide whether to try Annie's Vegan Mac n cheese. 

Images sources: 

https://hilaryseatwell.com/products/fiesta-black-bean-veggie-burger 

https://www.annies.com/product/organic-vegan-cheddar-flavor-mac/

Stay healthy and remember that you are not alone. Remember to get outside and revel in the small, brilliant things that are all around you, no matter where you are.

-Elyse Collyer, Co-President of OAKS

The most immediately obvious difference in people’s reactions to the pandemic versus climate change is that the pandemic is a present threat. COVID-19 sparks immediate fear and response because, unlike climate change, it is not psychologically distant. The wide-spread and constant media coverage of the situation leads to everyone being informed yet also knowing what they must do to be safe. While for most people it’s easy to ignore climate change due to the lack of current consequences of their behavior, this is not true during this pandemic. Not taking the proper precautions could have pressing or fatal consequences, which everyone is aware of as we remind ourselves of the consequences of what will happen if we don’t follow orders. However, with climate change, people feel like it’s an option to behave sustainably because it’s not currently socially unacceptable to live unsustainably in the same way that it is not currently socially acceptable to ignore public advisories. Yet in both situations, people also choose to behave directly against cautions from health professionals and scientists. There are still people being highly social or going out for the sake of going out. Just like, despite warnings from environmental scientists, people are still choosing to live in highly unsustainable ways. However, despite that both warnings should be taken very seriously, unlike the first case, the latter case accounts for the majority of how people behave.

 

I think the important difference between these problems lies in how serious the world is taking them. There is wide-spread action to prevent further devastation from COVID-19 because it is immediately concerning. Thousands of people are dying every day from this; what individuals do has immediate consequences. This hits a lot closer to home than climate change, but the only real difference is when the devastation is happening. People cannot instantaneously see how their unsustainable habits will affect themselves and others, nor is there wide-spread media coverage constantly warning people about the state of the situation. While the pandemic is almost always on everyone’s mind, climate change gets largely ignored. 

 

Lastly, I see this pandemic as foreshadowing as to what could occur if people continue to push off climate change. We are living in uncertain times and people have begun to realize that their actions have real consequences. What if we presented climate change in a similar manner such that people were not only informed on the severity of the issue but were also told how to behave. Just like our current situation, it would take time for people to learn and adjust accordingly, but if this pandemic has shown us anything is that behavior changed so quickly because the problem was presented as immediate and to be taken with the utmost severity while also directly telling people what they need to do. I know that fear is not the best way to spark change, I am simply pointing out that the particular coverage of the situation combined with the specific actions to take has resulted in wide-spread behavior change. If people had a similar level of exposure related to climate change, it seems to me that there would be a greater cause for behavior change.

There are so many ways to use this week to reflect, get inspired, and take action for environmental justice. 

This week, I decided to commit to two vegan meals a day in addition to joining the Youth Climate Strike online, calling and reaching out to MN representatives,  and doing a trash clean up in my community!

I hope these goals help inspire you all to do something you're passionate about, to make the most out of living sustainably this week and every week.

PS Here's a link to the digital climate strike: