Issue Exploration

The first issue I chose to write about and explore was water. I chose this issue because I am from Michigan and we are surrounded by the Great Lakes so every vacation my family usually takes is us going to Lake Michigan. Water quality should be on everyone’s mind because it is one of the main things that sustains us. A personally responsible citizen would probably pick up garbage along the shore lines that they visit, whether it is along a river, lake or even a reservoir made by man. A participatory citizen would organize a trip where kayakers would take a trip down a river with garbage bags in their boats and clean up the trash they pass, or organize the cleanup of an oil spill that is threatening habitats. A justice oriented citizen would seek the root of the problem and make littering have bigger consequences to discourage people form throwing their trash anywhere but in a garbage bin.

Another issue I chose to write about was mental health because this is an issue that flourishes along college campuses and among students struggling. Mental health is always a big thought on my mind because I hear stories every day about how horrible it is to have a mental illness or to be in a bad frame of mind. There is so much that we, as a community, can do to lower the amounts of individuals who are suffering from poor mental health.  Mental health impact society because those with poor mental health don’t really fit in well with other individuals with normal or good mental health. It impacts the economy by either putting those with poor mental health or mental illness out of work, homeless or making them spend money on therapy sessions. It impacts the environment because those with poor mental health may not care too much about littering or picking up after themselves.

The final issue I was considering is climate change. Climate change affects us every day whether we see it or not. It is melting the ice caps, hurting wildlife and overall changing our environment way too quickly for comfort. There are many individuals who agree with the science of climate change and want to work towards a better future but there are other individuals who don’t agree with the science of climate change and will do everything the can to convince others that climate change is a hoax. Those many individuals who agree with the climate change science want to change the beliefs of the other group and a personally responsible citizen would join a march or an awareness campaign spreading the word about climate change. A participatory citizen would organize the march or start and organization that raised awareness of this event. A justice oriented citizen would work to change the causes of climate change by writing to the owners of big businesses whose pollution is a big issue or talk to the Senate about what steps can be made to change this issue.

Overall, I chose to explore the issue of water. I feel like addressing this issue will not be too difficult because there are so many water crises all around the world. Form this stand point I can go towards the Flint water crisis, the drought in California, the plastic gyres in the oceans, the litter that is in every body of water or oil spills around the world. I’m sure that by exploring this issue I will run into different problems such as not being able to engage others or having them not be as passionate as I. This semester I will begin by participating in a river clean up because that is a very important step and it will help the quality of the river. The challenges I think I’ll experience are difficulty talking to people and getting them to understand the problem. Another challenge will be how difficult it will be to cause change in some of the bigger aspects. Some of these aspects include getting people to cut down on litter and oil companies to put greater regulation into the transport of their product to prevent oil from spilling into the oceans, rivers or the gulf. In the end my final decision is to try to reduce water pollution.