The Car Key or the Fork?

Environmental Studies is a huge part of my interest both as a student and a concerned citizen of humanity. So when it was time to decide on a major I figured I had to do something involving the study of the environment. They did not offer an environmental studies major where I went to school (Umass Dartmouth), but after a little research I discovered a loop hole, a way of creating my own major that would let me design my course of study. This loop hole was called Multidisciplinary Studies. It allowed me to choose a liberal arts or liberal science major and then pick a focus from there. I chose the liberal arts track with a writing route and my focus became environmental issues.

This was one of the best decisions I could have ever made. Once I was approved to enter this unique major I seemed to get the best of both worlds. I had a foundation in intensive writing classes but also had the freedom to take a number of different types of environmental courses. This is where I feel I truly got my money's worth. The different fields I got to study as well as the insight of so many different types of professors truly changed my view of my environment and human's place in that environment.

So this is where the car key or the fork title comes into the story. I had one particular professor in one life changing class that truly opened my eyes to many of the things I was completely unaware about in regards to the environmental degredation occuring on this planet. On the first day of class this professor came in and began discussing what we thought we knew about the environment. He asked us about current issues, issues of the past, seemingly small talk, that was until he took two things out of his bag.

The two items were, obviously, a fork and a set of car keys. So he took these two items out and posed a question. He said to the class, which do you think has more of a negative impact on the environment, the fork or the car keys? Most of the class, including myself, agreed that the car keys definetly had more of a negative impact than the fork.

So after we answered our profesor smerked to himself and then went on to say that no, we were quite wrong. In fact, the fork has a much greater impact on the evironment for many reasons.
These reasons went from the extraction of chemicals from the earth, to the runoff and pollution excreted into the atmosphere and land of the by-products of the food, to the energy consumed to transport all the ingredients to a common location, to then being shipped off in its final packaging which will inevitably end up in a landfill. Overwhelming is the word that returns to my mind when I remember this explanantion.

But he was absolutely right. Food takes far more energy to make and produces much more waste than we care to think about, and that is just one part of the problem. We go to the grocery store and see everything organized in shelves and aisles. We dont see everything that goes into the production of these products and how much it takes to get them into our grocery store. We dont have to think about this complicated process because it does not directly affect us. And if it doesn't directly affect us we are less likely to care.

And that was his point. We don't see it and that means we dont have to care or think about it. That is how so many people view environmental issues: if it doesnt directly affect me, why should I care? And this is why problems continue to arise and will continue to arise in the environment. No one cares and it has not affected enough people that they are willing to make changes.

I'm not trying to be negative Nancy or anything, I just think it is important to care about the environment and be more aware of what is going on. If people took the time to realize how much we consume and waste and how it is negatively impacting our home and realize that sooner or later it is going to start impacting our lives, a lot more would be done to change the way we live and change the way we view our relationship with the planet.

So the key and fork story is just a little piece of what I learned and what eye opening information I discovered in my course of studies. I want to share my knowledge and hopefully continue to learn from everyone around me.