Feel the Facts
Most of us already know that we should be more environmentally responsible. We know we should bring a reusable bag and carry a water bottle, we should recycle and compost. The problem is that if we know we should do something it doesn’t necessarily mean we do it.
For example, I have known for more than 5 years now that there are harmful chemicals in shampoo and other skincare products. The fact is I still haven’t switched to a more natural alternative. Why? There is a long list of priorities that demand my attention and time on a daily basis. Shampoo is just not dangerous enough to get to the top of my list.
In a way, environmental issues on the global scale are a lot like my struggle to switch to a natural shampoo. In my daily life those problems are not apparent. I don’t see the deforestation caused by my junk-mail. I don’t see the children working in sweatshops to make the t-shirt I’m wearing. I don’t see the oceans full of plastic bottles and bags that I’m using.
Knowing the facts doesn’t make me change. What makes me change is FEELING the facts. The switch happens when the gap between my values and actions becomes too wide to be ignored and I feel I have to do SOMETHING.
I’ll share with you an embarrassing story of how I started composting. My neighbor moved out and left a compost bin in our yard. I had thought about starting to use it for… 3 years. But I was just too busy. At the time I was volunteering at a large weekly networking event, helping with recycling and reducing waste. Most of my friends there knew I was the zero-waste person. After one of the events a friend came round for dinner and wanted to throw away an apple core. He asked me where my compost was, assuming I had one. I said I hadn’t started composting yet… The following weekend I went to a zero-waste conference and met some truly inspiring people. Some of them were able to fit all the trash they generated in a year into a JAR! I came back home determined to do better. I set up my composting bin the following day. It took me an hour :D I have been composting for 2 years now and it is one of the easiest and most rewarding changes.
I used to take out trash and think “How are we still allowed to throw all these things into a landfill. People in the future will think we were insane. They will look at us like we look at people who smoked on planes.”
It’s kind of funny how now I love taking out my compostables. Closing the gap between my values and my actions makes me happy.
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