One day it struck me that the world would be a very different place if environmental crimes were treated in the same way as murders. So, why aren’t they? And should they be?
At the moment such crimes can, mistakenly, feel distant and abstract. If someone came into your flat and set fire to your furniture, stole your valuables, killed your pet, added poison to your water … what would you do? You’d be terrified. You’d go to the police. You might want revenge. You’d certainly want justice. It would be entirely obvious to you that a crime had been committed.
Problem being is that almost everyone of us is guilty. Few are doing the heavy lifting to outweigh their impact. I do quite a bit, but I’m under no illusion that my ecosystem work outweighs my consumption.
For example, we grew loofas this year. Hopefully we’ll harvest enough not to have to buy kitchen scrubbies or bath sponges till next year’s harvest. (Dayuum they work great!) But we still had to buy fertilizer and water, both activities using energy and resources. Better on balance? I think so.
Rake your leaves? Guilty.
Take nearly any transportation? Guilty.
Apply herbicide or pesticide to your property? Guilty.
Monoculture lawn? Guilty.
Eat food? Guilty.
Wear clothes? Guilty.
I’m sure you folks could add to that list all night long.
Remember when ecosystems absolutely rebounded when COVID forced the humans indoors for a little while?
Keep in mind, though depopulation would help, it would bring about economic doom. Still, crashed economies would help nature as we wouldn’t be moving and consuming so much.
Best we can do is act our best individually and hold the major offenders accountable. Fines won’t get it, we need a corporate death penalty. Illegally dumping in the river? Your business will be taken apart and sold down to the last fucking stapler. No one can swoop in and buy it, go back to business as usual. Complete. Corporate. Dismemberment. CEO and top officers, believe it or not, jail.