Pangaea, the expeditions, competitions, chat forums… but what are the main objectives of Pangaea?

Hey guys, I wrote on this paper my thoughts about Pangaea. I know it´s pretty long, but I guess I met the point of the main project and the main objectives. Furthermore I think, after reading this article, you will see things differently; I hope you will see things more clear then. And please contact me if there is anything you see totally different or you don´t agree with!

Mike Horn offers to all teenagers worldwide the possibility to join him on one of his unique expeditions. Mike Horn searches interested, motivated, physical fit and environmentalist people. He searches YOU! You can apply for an expedition by filling out a form with questions and getting active in the community. But unfortunately the motivation of the most applicants is only to get selected for the expedition. Afterwards they forget their promises about promoting Pangaea in future and acting for a greener future directly.

Naturally the expeditions look great and you want to join one. Sure, Mike Horn takes you to awesome places of the world. For free. But that was not his idea. He called the project into life for starting the change. He takes 8 guys from the whole world to expeditions to show them how to act. He believes in you and he wants you to give him something back. Mike Horn is “old”, he won´t change the world but his hope is in us. He tries his whole life to prepare us as well as he can for being the change. He does that because he loves our beautiful planet and he made protecting it to his mission of life.

This is one side of Pangaea, the small one to be honest. The main side is the community. The thought behind it is that you get to know people out of your region, which have the same interests and feel the same “mission” of their lives. All in all the community is a perfect platform for exchanging ideas, projects and of course, to plan events for saving the environment.

Things that make the community so special and unique are for example that in the community everyone is equal, because only your goal counts. Today there are more than many environmental organizations, for example Greenpeace and WWF. But when you inform yourself about those organizations, you see that they don´t work together even if they have basically the same goal. Their goal is not only to stop the killing of animals and deforesting - they fight another fight, namely the fight of who has the most members. And this is, what I think is disappointing because if they really want to change something, they could plan actions by their own, but inform then the other organizations to demonstrate together and pull on one rope. Pangaea tries to fraternize all these organization. We cannot lose more time with talking. We, the younger generation, have to act like a bridge between all the organizations. It´s like I always say: no one can do everything, but everyone can do something. We are the youth, we are the future and we are the ones who have to make the step into a better future.

Another great thing of Pangaea is, that you don´t have to pay anything for getting a membership. You don´t have to pay money of which you don´t know who gets it. To be honest, I have never paid something to any organization, because I am to 99% sure, that not every cent I spend goes to the people who need it. Most of the organizations pay really much money for their promotion and it´s really not that I´m stingy but I don´t want to support people like them. Before I heard about Pangaea, I searched something, where I can help with my time by acting, with my motivation and my ideas. You can believe me; I searched for a long time. I am really happy that I found Pangaea, because here my dreams come true.

Besides that in the community everyone is an important person. You can say your opinion and you can be sure that you are taken seriously. Also every good idea and suggestion of you will be put into practice. In normal environmental organizations is a huge hierarchy, you only know the head of it, but not what he actually does. You can send him thousands of mails; you will never get a response. Pangaea is different. We, the young people, are the important ones, the guys in the office only coordinate our projects and help us, and they take their time to respond every question.

Before I went to the 6th Selection Camp I felt a fire in my heart, which said me, that I cannot live like I did before, but during the camp something happened with my mind. Knowing that I am not alone with my thoughts and knowing that someone believes in you helps you all the time and gives you power. It feels, like the Pangaea Team woke me during the camp up and let me realize how important it is to act quickly, because the fire is now huge. I have so many ideas and want them all to come true. One of my dreams is to wake everybody I meet up.

I think most of you are busy with school and do not have the time for organizing something by their own. But that is not necessary. There are really a lot of easy ways to get active, to be the start of the change and to really write “history”. In my opinion, you can make a difference by doing a few easy things. Firstly you should live environmentally friendly. Use the bike, buy products from your region, produce as little waste as possible and separate it. This maybe sounds too simple, but it really works. I tried it a few months ago and it really worked. My friends and family “copied” my behavior after a few weeks so I act “passive” but successful. Furthermore you should talk with the guys you meet about your opinion and your goal and show them how they can make a difference as well.

BUT the best and the most effective thing is to support environmental projects in your region. Therefore you do not have to organize them, only be there on the day and join them. This really helps, because for example “old” Young Explorers like me organize Yep-Meetings, but finally, after a lot of sleepless nights of working less than 10 people come and join. This is really disappointing for the organizer and it shows that you cannot be that motivated. If you have a great idea, share it with the world. Nobody expects that you will organize it alone but we could organize it together.

I could list now an endless list with things that and how you should behave environmentally friendly. A list that includes every human mistake. The too high CO₂ emission through too many cars, the deforestation, the overfishing… I could say all the right things, could name all the basic changes that should be named and be 100% politically correct, but that won´t help anymore. The time for talking is over. The time for giving energy saving tips is passed. It is time to really take action. Too many people say they are green and too many people talk about “wonderful” ideas like saving the world. But they only talk to people about global warming and ask others to save energy. With that we will not make a difference. Why are the politicians always so surprised when they see one of the results of the global warming we produce? One forest fire, one flood, one famine. This is only the beginning!

I hope you felt addressed and see now things more clear and if that was your first impression of Pangaea and you are now confirmed, take your chance to be the change, join the community and get active! It is not too late to take action to protect our planet and environment!