Tearfund | The People’s Planet: The Power of Collective Humanity

Open up your front door, take a few steps outside and look around. Whether it’s a flower growing out of a crack in the pavement, or the sound of the sea, chances are you’ll all be able to find some sort of beauty in your surroundings. Planet Earth is such a gift, isn’t it? One that we need to treasure. So why aren’t we better advocates for its preservation? In the fourth blog of the series, Bonnie Graham from Baptist World Aid Australia unpacks why we need to change the way we buy our clothes to become more sustainable shoppers and reduce the impact on our precious planet.

“As we got further and further away, it [the Earth] diminished in size. Finally, it shrank to the size of a marble, the most beautiful you can imagine. That beautiful, warm, living object looked so fragile, so delicate, that if you touched it with a finger, it would crumble and fall apart. Seeing this has to change a man.”
— James B. Irwin, Apollo Astronaut

Earth-from-space-2-(1).jpg

Photo by The New York Public Library on Unsplash

Perspective is a powerful thing.

When viewing the earth from afar, our own insignificance could not weigh more heavily. Comparatively, each of us are little more than a speck of dust on the surface of our planet, suspended in infinity. In this way, it is extraordinary to consider the collective power we have to affect the fate of a living ecosystem, so much larger than ourselves.

Planet earth. The blue marble. Our globe. Just a few names for the one home shared by the human race. It’s impossible to fathom the lived experience of the nearly eight billion people spread across our planet. Some are starving, some are feasting. Some are experiencing drought and famine. Others face rising sea levels which threaten their homes. Some people are exploited in dire vulnerability… and others exploit their neighbours and the environment for profit.

As millions of people across the world face poverty, illness, and hardship, God’s creation also faces irreversible destruction. Often saving the planet and saving society are held in tension. But the truth is, one cannot be passionate about people, without also being passionate about our planet. Social issues and environmental issues are not separate. They’re inextricably linked. To live and thrive, we need clean air to breathe, safe water to drink, good soil to produce nutritious food. That’s why we must care for our planet as well as the people living on it if we are to experience the fullness of life as God intends.

The geological age we are living in has been called, “Anthropocene”, a title which acknowledges that human activity has been the dominant influence over the climate and the environment. As our population has grown exponentially over the 20^th Century, so too has our appetite to consume. This has come at a huge cost to our society and God’s earth.

Many of us need look no further than our wardrobe to see this in action. Fast fashion has made it easy for us to purchase clothing cheaply and often, without having to consider who made our clothes or why they’re so cheap. If clothes are cheap, then chances are that the earth and vulnerable workers are the ones paying the price. It’s easy to forget just how connected we are and how powerful that can be. Both for good and bad.

This interconnectedness has been particularly evident in recent weeks as the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic has evolved. It has reminded us of the fragility of life. What started as a single case has now (as of the time of writing) locked down almost a third of our global population. As you learned in our last blog, the flow-on impact for supply chains has been devastating.

Fashion supply chains have been particularly hard hit, with many factories and fashion companies forced to suspend business as usual. Fashion production, as a global industry, is commonly regarded as one of the largest polluting industries, worldwide. It produces 10% of all global carbon emissions and is the second-largest consumer of the world’s water supply. It has had a devastating impact on the planet and, as a result, on people as well.

And now the global fashion industry has been forced to pause and reflect in the wake of this crisis. As retail stores have closed and customer demand has plummeted, some interesting and unexpected stories have emerged from production-intensive areas around the world.

China is the world’s leading producer of textile and fashion items. As it was placed into lockdown over February, heavily polluted skies cleared to levels of visibility not seen in years. Over two months, carbon emissions dropped by 25% and nitrogen dioxide by 42%. Should we want to go back to business as usual if this is what it costs?

Like the climate crisis, the coronavirus crisis will be felt most deeply by the most vulnerable people in the world. While nations grapple with the economic and humanitarian impacts of coronavirus on an immediate level, the large, ongoing climate crisis is still looming. The United Nations Millennium Ecosystem Assessment concluded that “Any progress achieved in addressing the goals of poverty and hunger eradication, improved health, and environmental protection is unlikely to be sustained if most of the ecosystem services on which humanity relies continue to be degraded”.

Another recent report from the UN stated that by 2030, an additional 120 million people could be pushed into poverty as a result of climate damage, which threatens to undo the last 50 years of collective global progress made in development, health, and poverty reduction.

The ongoing health of God’s creation hinges on our stewardship of it… and the sacrifices that we are willing to make as individuals, collectively.

The reality is, that following the pandemic, once production and society find some kind of stability again, any short-term environmental benefits experienced will likely be reversed as factories scramble to catch up on lost time… and lost money.

Emissions will return to usual and smog will once again blanket cities, bringing with it the respiratory conditions that plague citizens in these areas. Water sources will once again be drained, diverting drinking water away from people who rely on it for survival. Chemical waste will again be released into waterways poisoning the small ecosystems that still exist and making their way into our food chain to cause diseases and a myriad of health conditions. And as consumers, the challenge we are faced with as we emerge from coronavirus life, is this: will we continue to consume at a rate that has, for many years, catalysed all this destruction and endangered the survival of so many people?

The global action taken in response to coronavirus is a true testament to the way in which change can be initiated when a collective approach is taken by society. Let’s not risk the future of humanity as we put caring for creation on the backburner. Let’s act with the sense of urgency that coronavirus has demanded from us all. Let’s use our power and act, with care for each other… and our home.

Have you heard about the new COVID Fashion Commitments?

These are six straightforward commitments for fashion brands to make to the workers in their supply chains, and for us as consumers to stand with them and call them to deliver.

Learn More

Former refugee uses her experience of trauma to help survivors of human trafficking

Thursday, 30 July 2020 — Grace Ellis

Today is the UN Day Against Trafficking in Persons and this year the focus is on the amazing, resilient, and inspiring workers who work on the frontlines to stop and prevent this terrible trade and stand beside it’s victims. Sreyna Sam is one of them. She was born in a refugee camp during the Cambodian war and has experienced discrimination and abuse. Her trauma has given her an incredible empathy for survivors of human trafficking. She is now the Operations Manager of Client Care for Tearfund's partner Hagar, Cambodia.

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At Tearfund, we have a deep compassion for the oppressed and a yearning for justice. We believe the exploitation of poor and vulnerable people is a gross injustice that must be confronted. And it starts with knowing the facts.

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Last week was tough as we looked at the idea of greed and how that can be destructive in people’s lives. This week we focus on the virtue of contentment.

#3 Take Care!

Monday, 09 March 2020 — Sean du Toit

Having looked at the virtue of gratitude last week, today we look at the vice of greed. It is difficult to have a positive discussion of a vice. So imagine this is leg day at the gym. You know it is going to be tough, but if you do the work, it will pay off and be beneficial later on.

#2 An Attitude of Gratitude

Monday, 02 March 2020 — Sean du Toit

Last week we looked at the creation story and how that can shape us. Now, we begin our reflections on virtue with gratitude, a powerful virtue that shapes our experience of life.

The People’s Planet: The Power of Collective Humanity

Have you heard about the new COVID Fashion Commitments?

These are six straightforward commitments for fashion brands to make to the workers in their supply chains, and for us as consumers to stand with them and call them to deliver.

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Former refugee uses her experience of trauma to help survivors of human trafficking

Five interesting facts you need to know now about modern slavery and exploitation

A day in the life of a female human trafficking investigator

#4 Do you consent to be content?

#3 Take Care!

#2 An Attitude of Gratitude

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