Part of the problem is that carbon dioxide (CO2), methane, E. coli and nitrates are invisible to us. If they were, say, purple, we could see that we are poisoning the planet.
At the moment, other than "once-in-a-lifetime" floods, environmental destruction doesn't appear to be affecting us.
Some mischievous people and organisations even sow seeds of doubt as to whether we are really damaging the planet at all.
Also, as individuals we feel powerless to change the situation. We realise that even if we individually live a perfect, environmentally friendly life it will make little difference unless big corporations and industrial farms reduce their polluting.
It is still essential that each of us does our best to have a low environmental impact.
Some individual/family actions will be the topics of future articles.
However, I believe what is more important is collective action.
Dr Martin Luther King jnr said: "Those who love peace must learn to organise as effectively as those who love war." I believe this is just as true for those who love the Earth.
There are many benefits to joining with others - we find out there are many like-minded people out there; we can share knowledge and success stories which gives us hope; and we can work together and share practical resources such as swapping a fruit tree for a chicken, rather than buying one that's travelled hundreds of kilometres.
As a collective, our protests become more credible.
While one guy meditating on a car with a few loud-mouth supporters is easily dismissed as lunatic fringe, thousands of people cannot be ignored.
And so we gain political clout.
Our planet's future isn't going to get better unless ordinary people in every country stop sitting back and complaining about the government, corporations or farmers. We need to join political parties and form governments that will enhance our environment and change the economic rules to make it easier for farmers and businesses to care for the land.
I know some of you will be thinking: "But what about the economy?"
This will be the subject of a future article but a quick answer is that small tweaks to the current economic model could ... save the world.
For example, an electronic financial transaction tax would go some way to stopping foreign banks sucking billions of dollars out of our economy every year.
Please take action. Join one or more of the following now, and become part of the collective: Live for the Land; Community Resilience Whanganui; Green Party; Labour Party; Matai Street Community Garden; Sustainable Whanganui; Permaculture Wanganui; Forest and Bird; Greenpeace; TPPA Action Whanganui; Whanganui Positive Activists.
¦Chris Cresswell lives and works in Whanganui and is an active member of most of the above organisations.
