Discussion with My Roommate

I did not go home over the break, so I had a discussion about the global environment with my roommate. My roommate, who is also Japanese, thinks that the United States has to get involved with the environmental movement more. She pointed out the lack of people's awareness in the United States, so she insisted that they have to educate people in the United States. Thus, my roommate's opinion is that the Human Nature in the pyramid is the most important part. However, for me, the most crucial part in the pyramid is the Social Change. I know that it is difficult to get everyone on board and seems too idealistic, yet in order to improve the environment, people need strong leadership who make a change in the society so that people can be aware of the problems. I talked about the lack of leadership of the Bush administration in terms of the global environmental problems and green collar jobs that Obama is planning to provide as an example. Still, I agree with my roommate's opinion, because in Japan, people, especially children, are unconsciously educated about the environmental problems. Many elementary schools and junior high schools in Japan requires garbage collecting as a field trip, but I do not see so many American kids are collecting garbage. Also, unlike in the United States, many Japanese students have to clean up their classrooms by themselves almost everyday, so they naturally learn how to recycle garbage and reduce waste as much as possible. Though we were not totally disagreed, I enjoyed discussing about the environment with my roommate.