The “New” Silent Generation Has A Plan With A Good Heart
Not only are today’s kids already living the new “Silent” Generation as if no one spoke, no one hears people talking, but we are living in an unknown universe where we read and know what everyone is saying or doing. Just like back in the old days in the Kodak camera commercial, where taking pictures are priceless… Looks like that most priceless moment for a young couple with a little toddler would be learning how to touch the apps on an iPad 4G, as opposed to learning how to speak the words, for the very first time, “Mommy and Daddy”.
Times really have changed.
What will happen to this eye-popping generation after the Apple store becomes the next endangered species to be registered under protection by the United States government?
With our communications going global like wildfire, oscillating, radiating and zigzagging in all different degrees, these kids have something planned behind the scenes. They know that they are here on this planet for a purpose. While this Generation XYZ may commute millions of useless news daily, they are the first to get all breaking news affecting our zip codes, our cities, our States of America as well as our countries because they are the first to know everything ASAP- and they want to take action faster than Amber Alert.
Their fast-paced lifestyles and their forward thinking define their statement for our future. They started young in being exposed to major global warming issues. They are very aware that sustainability, a cultural renaissance, needs to push its limits more than anything else. This generation is smart enough to realize that with the major influx of consumer warfare, it is not 100% feasible across our oceans and hemispheres especially in third world countries.
Students at our universities are constantly stirring buzz-worthy news for our thirsty-culture, with a smart purpose. Sustainability Without Borders, a non-profit that gathers like-minded students and professionals to travel to selective countries in hopes of changing their label from “unbuilt” to “built”. For instance, a team of University of Michigan students recently set up a commitment to work with villagers in Liberia. They constructed three projects to help improve energy and water resources. One project that absolutely strikes our audience is where they connected a generator onto a Merry-Go-Round on a local playground. Amazing and simple, as the children run and play on the platform, they are adding natural energy to the generator. This could happen anywhere and has been happening forever since the Merry-Go-Round was invented.
According to this article linked here, it is a valid statement that sustainable projects should focus more on undeveloped countries, since their natural resources are already nearing depletion.
With social media, can you imagine how fast buzz-worthy news travels? A mega-billion fraction of a second is much greater than the meters per second of light traveling. This mega-fraction would be the appropriate measurement tool in evaluating how to get breaking news to spread like a wild brushfire on the countryside of Southern California.
Another example of realizing how unimaginable the need for speed of significant information can travel would be via European countries. Statistics from a HSBC Bank advertisement show that such an extremely small fraction of 0.3% of solar energy in the Saharan Desert of Africa could power the entire country of Europe.
Lastly, in terms of humanitarian efforts where all activity is volunteer-based physical and emotional, the human heart is the main source of all energy. According to a Health magazine statistic, the heart is one overachieving organ. The statistic also explains that in one minute, it will have pushed 1.5 gallons of blood through 60,000 miles of blood vessels- that’s more than 2x the circumference of earth. I am sure this could be a perfect example in wanting to spread this information to your friends and family, since it is such an amazing and important thing in bringing awareness and health concern to this topic, via social media.
In conclusion, it is just unbelievably amazing to accept the existence that something so small like a quick spin on a Merry-Go-Round, a 10 minute jog, or a small percentage of solar energy could power up anything, even an entire country. A human-powered or nature-powered activity could impact the lives of its people so beneficial for long-term, sustainable results. Via a young professional’s Facebook Fan Page in saving our Earth, “A small act of kindness can make the biggest difference in the world- and yes, we have biological and scientific evidence to prove this.”
Again, reference to the Kodak camera commercial, “the most simple things are just priceless”. Sustainability is the way to go.
Design Journalist 