What is Gen Z Doing for the Environment?
Arizona
2020, Junior, Creative Writing
“Save the Turtles! Sksksksk…” This is a meme that most Gen Zs have encountered at least once. The meme shows a sea turtle or a “VSCO girl,” with her hydro flask and metal straws to prevent plastic waste, saying “And I oop!” or “Save the turtles!,” sometime. followed by “Sksksksk,” a repetition of the sound at the end of “flasks,” which people think is funny. However, although this 2019 meme makes fun of the VSCO girls, there is a deeper meaning to the joke. Such pop culture activism raises the question of how serious an issue ocean devastation is to this up-and-coming generation, and what exactly are we, young people, willing to do about it.
Every year, over 1,000,000 marine animals, including 1,000,000 seabirds, 16,000 whales and dolphins, thousands of sea lions and seals, and 1,000 turtles are killed by plastic waste in the ocean (Henn, 2020). Furthermore, scientists predict that more than 90% of the world’s coral reefs will be dead by 2050, due to factors such as overfishing, poaching, bleaching events caused by oceans warming, and ocean acidification (Becatoros, 2017). Finally, it is estimated that 0.97 to 2.7 trillion wild fish are caught each year (Fishcounts, 2019). Our oceans are disappearing.
Gen Z comprises the generation of people born between the mid-to-late 1990s and early 2010s, with about 70 million members in the United States. Words that stereotype this generation include “lazy,” “social media-obsessed,” and “ignorant.” However, such stereotypes are unfair, as Gen Zs worldwide care about climate change, pollution, and our environment. For example, a 2018 Dell research study called “Gen Z: The Future Has Arrived” surveyed 12,000 Gen Zs across 17 countries to find out what Gen Z looks for when entering the workforce. Results demonstrated that 45% of respondents wanted work that has meaning beyond getting paid, 50% wanted the ability to learn new skills and have new experiences, and 38% wanted to work for a socially or environmentally responsible organization (Dell Technologies, 2018). Some examples of Gen Zs working to improve our environment include Boyan Slat, 25-year-old Dutch entrepreneur of the company The Ocean Cleanup, a group endeavoring to get rid of plastics in the oceans with advanced technology; 26-year-old Daisy Kendrick, the British woman who founded Ocean Generation, a global collective helping young people to understand the ocean and its importance; and Greta Thunberg, a 17-year-old Swedish environmental activist who sailed across the ocean to draw attention to the crisis humanity faces due to climate change. I even see such activism in my life: at my school, a group of sophomores is forming an environmental club to discuss improving the world around us, addressing such issues as plastic waste and global warming. According to Emanuela Barbiroglio, a senior contributor who writes about sustainability and the EU’s environmental policies, the new Future of Humanity survey of over 10,000 18-to-25 year-olds across 22 countries reveals that 41% of interviewees cited global warming as the most important issue facing the world (Barbiroglio, 2019).
Although it may appear to many that Gen Z is largely posturing on social media, in fact the use of a powerful and interactive medium of communication like social media to spread an environmental message should be seen as positive. Gen Zs, with our intuitive understanding of social media and technology, can use these means to raise awareness, spotlighting such issues as ocean pollution, for example by posting impactful pictures of an oil spill with a critical caption. Social media also empowers young people to organize across cultures and languages, meaning someone like Greta Thunberg can broadcast her message and coordinate international boycotts from her home in Sweden. Also, since our society is consumer-focused, the new generation can use social media to popularize eco-friendly brands, wielding purchasing power to shape the way companies do business and manufacture products. One example of an eco-friendly company is Apple, which uses recycled plastics and paper to manufacture its products (Dormehl, 2017). Such eco-friendly brands with sustainable business practices trending on social media could make a big impact on how Gen Z chooses to shop.
All in all, our up-and-coming generation cares about our environment, including ocean devastation, and already takes actions to change our world. We are still young as a generation, still finding our voice and our power. Previous generations have tasked us with the enormous job of saving the earth, and as the oceans rise, so will we to the occasion. There is still time to save the ocean and our planet, and we can and will do better than our predecessors.
Bibliography
Barbiroglio, E. (2019, December 10). Generation Z Fears Climate Change More Than Anything Else. Retrieved June 9, 2020, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/emanuelabarbiroglio/2019/12/09/generation-z-fears-climate-change-more-than-anything-else/#4e2ed1d0501b
Becatoros, E. (2017, March 13). More than 90 percent of coral reefs will die out by 2050. Retrieved June 9, 2020, from https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/environment-90-percent-coral-reefs-die-2050-climate-change-bleaching-pollution-a7626911.html
Dormehl, L. (2017, January 10). Apple is still the most environmentally friendly tech company in the world. Retrieved June 9, 2020, from https://www.cultofmac.com/461774/apple-is-still-the-most-environmentally-friendly-tech-company-in-the-world/
France-Presse, A. (2018, June 3). Whale dies from eating more than 80 plastic bags. Retrieved June 9, 2020, from https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jun/03/whale-dies-from-eating-more-than-80-plastic-bags
Henn, C. (2020, April 22). These 5 Marine Animals Are Dying Because of Our Plastic Trash… Here’s How We Can Help. Retrieved June 9, 2020, from https://www.onegreenplanet.org/animalsandnature/marine-animals-are-dying-because-of-our-plastic-trash/
How many dolphins are killed each year because of pollution? (n.d.). Retrieved June 9, 2020, from https://answersdrive.com/how-many-dolphins-are-killed-each-year-because-of-pollution-3017361
Patel, D. (2017, October 5). 11 Environmental Causes Gen Z Is Passionate About. Retrieved June 8, 2020, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/deeppatel/2017/10/04/11-environmental-causes-gen-z-is-passionate-about/#173d4fce1849
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Reflection
Reflection
I have been in love with the sea since second grade. I used to read and watch tons of books and movies related to the ocean. My biggest dream ever as a child was to scuba dive and swim freely with colorful tropical fish around the vivid coral reef. One day at school, our science teacher showed us a documentary about ocean pollution; I saw millions of seabirds and fish full of plastic suffocating, marine animals covered in thick oil, and shiny stingrays suffering in the hands of humans. As I was writing my essay for the contest, I learned through my research that more people of my generation care about our world than I thought. I also learned how ocean devastation is more serious than I thought; how we need to take action before it’s too late. From this illuminating experience, I learned that our generation is uniquely situated to spread this important message by sharing through social media platforms in order to raise awareness. I hope that readers will note how our generation does care about climate change and its devastating impact on marine environments, and that we are willing to keep on spreading the message to our peers and to future generations. I want to continue to research and write about climate change and ocean devastation in my own life. I want more people to keep on speaking—and speaking loudly—until our world has no choice but to listen.