Here’s some criticism of the Cradle 2 Cradle (C2C) concept:

C2C does not offer well defined strategies that are usable in a design process and it is not useful to work with and will remain a utopian concept.

What do you think? Is C2C a waste of time? Do all catalysts of change start out as utopian concepts until they are implemented? Is it worth it to continue to work toward this concept? If we do not have well defined strategies today does that mean we won’t tomorrow?  Do you think that this concept will catch on in your generation? Do you think that most people will require something drastic to happen in order for them to participate in this paradigm bending way of thinking?

“During the last decades, global warming, climate change, hurricanes, tornadoes, melting of icebergs, aridity, floods, greenhouse effect, acid rain, extinction of flora varieties and fauna species, constitute recurrent terms in our vocabulary. Air, water, soil and food quality is deteriorating day by day, especially in the developing countries. Scientists from all over the world point out that such environmental issues have also serious consequences on human health …

...It is widely recognized that chemical, physical and biological hazards in the environment may lead to serious health problems. Environmental pollution has primary confluence in the rise of many types of cancer and respiratory, cardiovascular and reproductive problems, leading to morbidity or even mortality.  Notwithstanding the aforementioned, research has shown that still a great number of either businesses and citizens are unaware of the seriousness of the environmental problem and do little or nothing to save the planet. As Louv (2008) highlights, people, and especially children, are alienating more and more from the nature, mainly due to the lack of safeness in the modern society and the extended use of technology. According to the author, this alienation leads to a “problematic stewardship” towards nature.  Scientists maintain that, current situation can be changed if people’s environmental awareness is raised environmental awareness as “a purely cognitive construct, indicating whether someone is aware of the endangered environment” (as cited in Arlt, Hoppe & Wolling, 2011), thus how one perceives, estimates and comports in regard to the environmental problems. Enhancing the environmental awareness, though, is not a new trend, as since the early ‘90s the European Committee was already emphasizing the need of intense activity towards this sector. Attempts have been made since then to inform and sensitize people and governments about the environmental pollution. The core idea of these attempts was, and still is, that the more people are aware of the environmental problems and the correlated health risks, the more their motivation to overturn the situation and act with caution towards the environment, reduce their ecological footprint and adopt green technologies.  Moreover,  people should understand that even the so called “green technology” is not totally “green,” but as Lorenzen (2012) states, “greenness emerges in the linkage between people and things”. The media, and especially the digital ones, can and should contribute towards this direction, as, according to Hansen (2011), via the media people have most of their knowledge regarding the environment. The power of media lays on the fact that they are widespread and shape, or even wield, public opinion. As Sharma (2012) soundly states, “there is no doubt that the media plays an instrumental role in modern societies.”

Those students in Mediasphere have focused their work on this topic, but we all have experiences and opinions regarding the media and it’s effect on our lives. To what extent do you feel that the media shapes and informs your knowledge of environmental issues facing us today? Do you feel that the media has a positive or negative role? Or neutral? Do you feel that the media should be different than it is (for example, if you feel that it has a negative role, do you think that role should be positive or neutral?) Does the media have the same responsibility to inform as it does to affect change? In other words, does the media’s role stop at telling society about the problem, or does the media play a role in creating the solution(s) and advocating for those solutions?