Page 12 - HGS Suburb News 152 - Winter 2022

S U B U R B

A View From Extinction

The wind rushed against my vibrant feathers, We defined elegance,
As I swerved left and right, We stood out, we caught your eye,
I felt free. I was free. Was our beauty the cause of our demise? Or were you?
But you ruined it. Scarlet; one of the divine colours of our feathers
My life, their lives, our lives. It ended up being the imprint of your cruelty,
Did you feel happy? Do you feel happy? And the blood that was spilled. The blood that you spilled.
The giants, with weapons of mass destruction Was it worth the kill? The satisfaction you got from it?
YOUTH
right in their fingertips Were we less important than the land you cleared?
I still hear the droning, the whirring, the endless cries for help, Land can be reborn. We cannot.
My home, dead. Everything was dead.
But you knew, didnʼt you?
What if your homes were torn down? Youʼve always known, yet you destroy us,
Surely you would've been devastated. Creature by creature, limb by limb, soul by soul.
So why did you wipe us out? Why did we have to die?
And you still do it, don't you?
No one knows of our existence. You end those lives, you end the peace,
With the closing of Because you think you are the only ones in this world, Perhaps it'll be better for you to face the same. For you
When will you understand? Will you ever learn your lesson? to face the shame.
COP 27 leaving
VISHALI THUSHYANTHAN & SOUMIYA INDRAKUMAR, THE HENRIETTA BARNETT SCHOOL
frustration over the
We owe art’s Greenwashing -
lack of urgency by
beauty to our environment the impact!
many world leaders,
here, SN Youth have Art is a human instinct – it is our natural disposition to create,
elucidating what the mind is unable to articulate. It is in our nature
their say about the
to reflect on nature. The natural environment is the greatest
impending climate inspiration known to artists. The earthʼs environment in itself is a
wonderful canvas filled with the paint strokes of sunsets, the
catastrophe sketches of skies and the sculptures of seas – which we have
instinctively adopted to create art. “Great art picks up where nature
ends”, thus Marc Chagall is stating that art is born from nature; art
owes its beauty to the ethereal paradise that is the environment. It
is essential to imagination, to expression, to optimism, to life, to art.
The very first pieces of art archaeologists have found (around
45,000 years old) are depictions of nature. They are representations Greenwashing is when a company is spending more money, time
of animals, as tribute, by primitive men and women to honour the and effort advertising and promoting themselves as sustainable
nature they had to kill for survival. In the Middle Ages men had a than carrying out the actions which will minimize their
complex relationship with nature which they viewed through environmental impact. This advertising causes customers to be
elaborate religious and symbolic meanings. misled in purchasing products that are not what they claim to be. It
wastes time and may divert customers from supporting greener
However, perhaps my personal favourite representation of nature companies. But why do companies use this tactic? They use it to
in art, is in Impressionism. In this radical art movement of the late make people more likely to purchase from companies which have
1800s artists focused more on capturing the transient effects of ethical credibility, they make a profit from emphasizing their social
sunlight rather than the subject itself. There was a shift away from consciousness. This has particularly been found true for Gen Z, so it
realism to a more eccentric, vivid portrayal of nature with is likely that companies targeting the younger generation will be
magnificent, wonderful colours and audacious brush strokes to greenwashing. However, the other reason is that they simply donʼt
create an ʻimpressionʼ of a natural scene – focusing on how sunlight know that they are doing it- a lot of the time there hasnʼt been
could define a moment in time. Recently, I saw Monetʼs famous enough research into the product that they are advertising. This
water lily bridge painting at the National Gallery and the effect was leads to misconceptions about products but in some cases can lead
truly mesmerising. It immerses you to a fine and therefore companies should research their policies in
with colour, texture, perspective and depth to make sure all the details are correct.
of course, light, so for a time you
forget that youʼre standing in an art An example of greenwashing occurred in 2019 when McDonaldʼs
gallery with hundreds of people, and replaced their plastic straws with paper ones which stapled
not in a make-believe paradise of McDonaldʼs as a company conscious about their impact on the
vibrancy. Impressionism may paint our environment. However, it was found that the alternative paper
natural environment inaccurately, but straws arenʼt recyclable so a lot of public backlash followed yet the
the use of a chromatic palette and company continue to use them.
seemingly intangible but realistic light, The issue is how can we notice when a company is partaking in this
leaves the paintings of nature covered and then how do we find companies that are thinking sustainably?
in hope and optimism, evoking all There are several things to look out for: providing no proof of a
kinds of warm emotions. claim; the language that the company uses (either it only being
Impressionism proves that the what scientists could understand or words having no clear meaning
portrayal of the environment in art can such as ʻproduced sustainablyʼ); or, something being the one
be incredibly personal, for both the ʻgreenʼ part of the company. These are difficult to notice, and can
artist and the observer. For nature, be well concealed, so online websites such as Project Cece and
something so common and comforting Ethical Made Easy can be used to find more sustainable companies.
to us, to be portrayed in this beautiful As the climate crisis accelerates and we get closer and closer to
way, really does demonstrate how art irreversible changes it is important that we, the consumers, are
picks up where nature ends. conscious about greenwashing.
SUSANA RIO, ARCHER ACADEMY AVA SYMONDS, ARCHER ACADEMY
12 SUBURB NEWS IS PRODUCED AND DELIVERED TO YOU BY RESIDENTS ASSOCIATION VOLUNTEERS