Vouloudis’ talk about the sustainability projects in Abu Dhabi was very informative and inspiring. Prior to this class, I did not that we have the Ghadan 21 project here, which is quite shocking because I live only 10 minutes away from the site. Just like when I was watching the film Bag It, I felt guilty that there are so many things around me that I was not aware of. Reading other students’ posts, I found out that many of them did not know about the Abu Dhabi sustainability projects as well. This did not make me feel less guilty or better, but it made me realize how ignorant we are. I wonder what could be done so more people are aware of this kind of projects. Maybe people are not aware of these projects because they are not aware of the problem in the first place. Thus, we should try to make people more aware of the plastic problem, so they will try to seek for solutions. This will hopefully lead them to cross path with these sustainability projects.
When I was listening to his talk, I was thinking of the quote from Bag It: ‘Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” Vouloudis’ Ghadan 21 seems to fit this quote quite well. This project involved many small groups of people who worked together internationally to make this project happen. In addition, Ghadan 21 started with a small pocket of space in Abu Dhabi instead of began with a large scale of space. Yet, this project still has significant impact to the environment as well as influences future projects on sustainability. People could have a feel of the developed space and might find themselves like the space. As a result, they might look to further expand this kind of space, making more spaces become sustainable. This shows that to create changes, we do not need to start with something big. Starting with small changes is simpler and much easier to be accomplished. These small changes act as a catalyst that inspires people to fight for larger changes. On the other hand, if we were to wait for big changes to happen, they might never take place at all. Consequently, people would not have tangible evidence or model to convince them that changes could happen.
Another thing that crossed my mind was the struggle that the Ghadan 21 project faced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although sustainability is a pressing issue, it receives far less attention than COVID-19. I am not saying that COVID-19 should receive far less attention, but I want to point out that the world tend to focus more on issues that have immediate effects. Since the plastic problem’s effect will occur so far in the future, people tend to care so much less. Thus, if we are able to make people see the negative impacts of plastic waste, people will be more likely convinced that plastic waste is a problem.
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