Guest blog: saving the world can be à la mode

Guest blog by Ela Maczkiewicz, young RSPB supporter

Can our generation really save the planet? The question all comes down to if we actually want to save the planet, and how fashionable or trendy it is to stop climate change. The growing worries of our elders may cast an unbelievably boring shadow over the heads of teenagers and youths, but the real reason we don’t want to listen and can’t be bothered, is because of the way the information is being given to us.

As your average self-obsessed, image conscious teenager, I tend to do what looks good. Meaning that I find the need to do things that also benefit me. Not only this, but I am also a keen geographer. For my A levels I hope to take geography, along with maths, biology and chemistry. I therefor find it of the utmost importance to try and save the planet, and recently my want to do this is showing elsewhere around my generation. 

Walking down the cobbled and claustrophobic streets of my native Cambridge, I find there a growing culture of recyclable bags, with huge labels on them, boasting their reusability. Furthermore, even going to a concert, certain merchandise has the label “I used to be a …..” not only do I have to Instagram my new buy, but also show to my friendship network how cool and super eco-friendly I am.  

This is the future of preventing climate change.

Hashtags are the new protests and rallies. Photo trends and edits are the updated petitions. Challenge videos are the modernised awareness adverts. The growing age of digital communication and trends aren’t just consuming modern culture and media, but actually important and substantial topics.

Recently Instagram has been recently ablaze with pictures and hashtags all about the decreasing beauty of the Amazon rainforest, the disgusting pollution of our oceans, or the ever-growing murky sky. Internet vloggers, those who have a larger brain span than a tea spoon, have actually left behind their shopping hauls and come onto the topic of recycling and conservation. Even one of my own personal favourite sites, Pinterest, is having an all-time high in DIY recycling and making new things out of the old.

From Harrogate to Heathrow, from County Durham to Cornwall and from Newcastle to Nottingham, internet hipsters are starting the new interconnected revolution and war against climate change. The breath-taking effort of tree huggers worldwide has taken modern society by storm.

With the right filter, the right font type or the right promotion, any message can be successful – it’s now our job to take advantage of this, and utilise this power.

I believe that the main way organisations can start to do this, is through social networking and targeting popular culture. A single beautiful photo or a bright label on a bag can spark off the biggest of trends. The older generation’s growing concerns paired with our generation’s innovative and modern techniques could metamorphose the planet into saving ourselves.

Going back to the question – can our generation save the planet?

There is no doubt that we have the capacity to save the planet, but whether we have the motivation to, is an entirely different matter.