Awareness by Word of Mouth

I can only speak for myself but I imagine that this class has affected everyone in some way. I admit that I have not become an environmental maniac who stopped driving and using paper products. I have however become aware of my surroundings and my usage. I think that since everyone in the country is not going to take this class it is important that we take the small step of spreading the things and ideas that we learned by word of mouth. It is just one of those small steps we can take as individuals to try and make a difference. I know it seems crazy that any of us as individuals can make a difference but there are already about 50 of us. So if each of us tells 20 people and out of that 4 people become aware they will spread these ideas as well and so on. The video in class on Monday was an example of how just one person can make a difference. I think that it is each of our responsibility to be accountable for our actions as human beings. A lot of the things we learned in this class have really put things into perspective for me. I do not think the world is going to end tomorrow but I do have a sense of urgency that I did not have before. It is almost a sense of fear because I do not think the Earth can last much longer if we continue on this path because it would just be impossible. The facts just do not allow us to believe that we will be able to live this lifestyle forever. There is an article that explains how word of mouth is becoming the most popular reason for consumers to purchase certain products. The article is at http://www.hear2.com/2003/11/some_amazing_st.html. If word of mouth can work with what car you should buy there is no reason why it should not apply to spreading important ideas. Sure we are going to come across people who say they do not care or someone else is going to fix the problem but we should go back at them. We should challenge them to tell us how the problem will get fixed and use our new knowledge to shoot them down so they can see that there is a sense of urgency and action must be taken.