Media attention for Geert Buelens’ new book about ‘environmental year’ 1972
Geert Buelens’ recently published his book ‘Wat we toen al wisten: De vergeten groene geschiedenis van 1972’ (‘What We Knew Back Then. The Forgotten Green History of 1972’) has gotten a lot of Dutch media attention recently. An overview.
Not solved, just moved
A recent episode of the history programme Andere Tijden (Different Times), for example, was largely based on Buelens' book and archive research. In the episode, Buelens explains how the environmental crisis was central in 1972, but how the attention for it faded the following year due to the oil crisis, inflation and the economic crisis. He also points out how the problem of pollution, which already existed in 1972, has still not been solved as much as having moved to different parts of the world.
Plastic in fish
In an in-depth interview in the Dutch newspaper NRC, Buelens talks about his research on 1972 and the environmental crisis in general. What surprised him most during his research, he said, was that we already knew the consequences of using plastic in 1972, after plastic particles were found in fish.
Why the change never came
The Plastic Soup Surfer podcast contained a 30-minute interview with Buelens, in which Buelens and podcast maker Merijn Tinga went back in time through audio fragments and newspaper articles. We hear how close we were in 1972 to complete systematic change, and why the change that was supposed to save the planet, never came.