Reports estimate that 75% of young people are worried about the future of our planet, meaning eco-anxiety is at an all-time high. Educating ourselves, rather than ignoring the problem, might be the best way to settle our worries.
‘Some may say ignorance is bliss, and the more you know, the more anxious you will feel,’ says Ben Brown, co-founder of sustainable project platform Going Green Media. ‘We disagree.’
During his time as an architecture student at university, Brown suffered heavily from eco-anxiety. He constantly felt like the material he was producing and studying had nothing to do with helping the planet. So, in 2019, he launched a YouTube channel, bought a second-hand camera and started exploring sustainable architecture projects.
As one door into sustainability opened, Brown suddenly found many more doors opening up, including the one into veganism. He met his now-partner Ciara Doyle – who has been vegan for more than 10 years – and they launched Going Green together.
Their platform is dedicated to highlighting eco projects and individuals from across the world to help shape people’s understanding of the state of the planet and pinpoint the key components of living sustainably.
Brown says that because those who control the conversation are often a lot older, there is still a massive gap in the way we communicate positivity in the green space.
Using their voices, Brown and Doyle want to be able to connect with younger generations: ‘like friends sharing projects with one another’. David Attenborough is incredible to watch, but it’s time for a new voice, says Brown.
The couple also built Going Green off of the belief that through technology and a collective open-mindedness, everyone has the opportunity to educate themselves. From Barcelona to Singapore to Copenhagen – the world’s most sustainable city – Brown and Doyle have travelled the globe in hopes of showing individuals that it’s not all bleak and hopeless out there.