In spite of public eagerness to learn about environmental issues, very few actually take any action toward remedying them. Audiences flock to movies like “An Inconvenient Truth” and “The Day After Tomorrow,” but the messages, along with the ticket stubs, are disposed of shortly afterward.

Patrons walk out of the theater relieved of conscience, but ultimately ineffective for the purpose being conveyed, like an extra being cast in a blockbuster movie. They might make a cameo cleaning a community park every so often afterward, but they certainly aren’t worthy of earning any sort of award for the parts they play. Their role in the big picture of things simply doesn’t merit that caliber of praise.

Genuinely concerned “tree huggers” are becoming an endangered species because of mass-produced Hollywood garbage passing itself off as ecologically progressive. The prospect of rising sea levels, dwindling forests and ozone depletion depicted in documentaries are presented in an “entertaining” manner that desensitizes viewers to the severity of the issues at hand. For these reasons, it is imperative that reforms are acted out on an individual, non-commercial level. We can no longer place our trust exclusively in the media to produce and guide our opinions without first inquiring. In allowing this to proceed unchallenged, we are merely setting the stage for disaster.

Another area contributing to the issue of ecological apathy is unwillingness on individuals’ behalves to part with technological comforts operating under a similar prop of manipulation. Take automobile commercials, for example: the HUMMER crossing Arctic tundra and glaciers, or trucking through a savanna plain amidst galloping caribou. They forget to include within the ad the meager gas mileage of the product, and the irony that such cars seek to destroy the very backdrops they are observed in by emitting greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and securing our wanton doom. Perhaps if a larger number of people were aware of this fact, they would be more reluctant to endorse HUMMER vehicles, and perhaps more inclined to purchase a hybrid instead.

Environmental consciousness is in fact a choice, but more importantly, it’s also a lifestyle.

Ask yourself from time to time, “Where did my opinion come from?” Was the source credible or right of intention? And most importantly, what major role am I playing as the plot of environmental turmoil thickens? Rather than saying, “I wish there was something I could do,” how about sorting your garbage into recycling bins or creating compost piles in your area. Instead of wishing global warming wasn’t a reality, how about carpooling to work or taking public transportation instead of commuting bumper-to-bumper in traffic alone every morning … or how about buying a new hybrid? These are just a few of the things that can be done to counteract the enormous environmental apathy we’re experiencing today.