Just like all of us share some portion of the blame, we all carry a responsibility to be good stewards of our environment. What products we choose to buy, how much waste we contribute and what lessons we pass on to the next generation are all important.
But a powerful new map from artist Jordan Engel and the Decolonial Atlas project shows a different, profound side to the argument.
“I made the map as a response to this pervasive myth that we can stop climate change if we just modify our personal behavior and buy more green products,” Engel told GOOD in an email. “Whether or not we separate our recycling, these corporations will go on trashing the planet unless we stop them.”
Engel’s map breaks down the Top 100 individuals contributing to environmental waste and climate change across the planet, breaking them down by specific names and locations. After all, even if we’re making responsible decisions on the local level, we’re ultimately still going to be left with a broken planet if the decision makers in positions of power at major corporations and government continue to freely pollute and cause irreparable harm to our wildlife and ecosystems.
“The key decision-makers at these companies have the privilege of relative anonymity, and with this map, I’m trying to pull back that veil and call them out,” Engel writes. “These guys should feel the same personal responsibility for saving the planet that we all feel.”
