Eco-Anxiety: Is It Really Worth It?

Eco-anxiety is a concept that encapsulates the idea of worrying for the environment's present and future, due to our human activities. Eco-anxiety is something most people don't know they have, which is understandable. Eco-anxiety is talked about a lot, for example you might hear on the news "37% of the Ozone layer has a giant, gaping hole", and that frightens you. "Has the world really not done enough to save the environment? Will this affect future generations? Will this affect me?" are all questions you may ask about Eco-anxiety. You see, I've only been seeing an influx of ecological related news now. These problems have always been part of the twentieth century, but have only now been recognized as huge problems. I think Eco-anxiety is a good thing, but is it really worth it?

Many countries that deal with pollution and try to combat it. For example, the Chinese people wear masks to not get sick from the horrible air pollution that has prevailed in the country. In India the Ganges river is a very polluted river, which inhabitants that live near the river put trash, dead animals, and human remains into. Keep in mind that people also bathe here. The main reason they hang on to this destroyed river is because of sacred it is to the Hindus, which make up most of India. In America, we have factories, many running cars, plastic everywhere, and we've really just realized how big this could be. So, I ask again, is it really worth it?

In my opinion Eco-anxiety is not lost, though it does not have a lot going for it, not many people are changing their ways. For example if a farmer uses pesticide and overuses it, but his plants still are in good condition he'll keep overusinig it. And say that it rains, the pesticide will run off with the rain and will hurt the enviornment, but the farmer won't know he does not deal with that type of stuff. Just as long as his crops are good, the farmer will keep overusing the pesticide. But, like I said Eco-anxiety still has hope. People can recycle, reuse, repurpose, and fix things. We can help the enviornment trying not to buy so many things, help organizations help the planet. You see, Eco-anxiety is Worth it!