Stopping the shopping

Sketched up this drawing yesterday… Researching it, I wonder why it is so often the young that have to change the ways of the adults, and the kids that take action to stop their parents from ruining our planet

Kid asking man to change for the planet illustration

Text and drawing by Frits Ahlefeldt

Fighting climate change, planting trees, refusing to fly, collecting plastic, going vegan… Today it is the kids and the young ones leading the way more often than not.

They are changing their ways, while their parents excuse themselves and say they again can’t quite grasp what just happened ( I’m 50+ so me included I have to admit)

Installing dimmers on our light switches on the porch and taking the Tesla to the supermarket seems to be the parents’ answer to saving the planet… Sadly leaving it to the young to stop the shopping wagons, all by themselves.

It would be so much easier to get to a better place if we got rid of those wagons, and joined our kids, not buying more than we can carry, and not from further away than we can walk to get it, hand in hand, so we didn’t even need a car.

If we, instead of crossing the planet up at 10.000 feet every time we get a chance, wanted to spend our time making our neighborhoods so great, we didn’t want to escape them at all.

If we talked more to each other and shared music and stories, instead of spending countless hours, competing with smarter and smarter robots on efficiency

If instead of looking on screens we were looking at birds, and instead of fishing for bonuses, we were planting trees

If we didn’t need to change, because we were already heading the right way

Keywords: Earthday, environment, sustainability, consuming, supermarket, shopping, generation, kids, resources

Story by Frits Ahlefeldt. FritsAhlefeldt.com