How Much Should We Give Up to Save the Planet?
Nothing and everything
As anyone who “listens to the science,” or who simply observes the world around them will tell you — the climate is changing and not in our favour.
But does it mean that everyone who is aware of this will take action? Does it mean that we have to give up everything we love in order to save the planet and, ultimately, ourselves?
When this is what we set out for, we end up judging ourselves and others much more harshly than we would with other goals.
Couldn’t resist stalking an ex on Instagram? Try harder tomorrow.
Couldn’t resist that burger followed by a long, hot shower to wash away the guilt? Now you’re a selfish hypocrite who doesn’t care about human lives and the longevity of the planet.
Oof.
No wonder we’re going crazy.
So, how much should we give up to save the planet?
Give up nothing.
Save yourself the misery.
The more you focus on something, the more it consumes you. This time last year, I couldn’t go to the supermarket without feeling all doom and gloom.
Why are they double-bagging their vegetables? Don’t they care that all this plastic ends up choking Nemo and Dory? Why are they idling their car? Don’t they care about their kids’ future?
When all you can think about is how everything is fucked, all you see is how fucked everything is.
You stop seeing the good in the world. You stop seeing hope.
And when you stop seeing hope is when you throw in the towel.
You can’t save the planet if you’re checked out.
Your willpower is finite.
Like a strict diet without a cheat day, where every forgone ice cream cone of joy is a sacrifice for that revenge body — completely dependent on your willpower — you will eventually crack and overindulge.
If you see the mission of saving the planet as a series of sacrifices you have to make, you will eventually crack and overindulge.
And as anyone who’s ever cracked and overindulged knows, the impact of that overindulgence is much bigger than simply doing things imperfectly.
Personal sustainability is just as important as environmental sustainability.
You can’t save the planet if you’re burnt out.
You’ll hurt the cause more than you help it.
Once you see something, you can’t unsee it.
Once you see how we’re all contributing to climate change and the impacts of it, you can’t unsee it. And you can’t comprehend when other people don’t.
That is why vegans won’t shut up. Once they see the cruelty, they can’t unsee it and can’t understand how anyone would want to play a part in it.
But the more obsessed you get and the more you try to change other people’s beliefs, the more miserable and hopeless you feel because it will never be within your control.
Earlier this year, I reached my peak of misery and crazy. I crashed and tapped out, and finally learned to chill the fuck out.
In the words of my best friend, I had to “Stop being a vegan about it.” Meaning: Let people live their lives.
Because at some point or another, people will see for themselves why they should care. And it will be because it affects them one way or another, not because you told them to.
You can’t save the planet if you’re turning people off from the movement.
But give it everything.
Be relentless in the pursuit of self-improvement.
Like the “invisible hand” of the economy that Adam Smith got off to, pursuing your own self-interest is how you save the planet.
When you choose to eat healthier foods — i.e., less processed, less packaged, less cholesterol-packed — you will be doing the planet a favour.
When you choose to chase those steps or kilometres or calories burned by walking or biking instead of driving — you will be doing the planet a favour.
When you choose to save yourself the debt and clutter of filling your home with more stuff you can’t take to the grave with you — you will be doing the planet a favour.
When you choose to take the advice of self-improvement gurus here on Medium and go for walks to keep your mind fresh (less driving), take cold showers to strengthen your self-discipline (less heating), or spend less time on your phone to remove distractions (less energy use) — oh yeah you will be doing the planet a favour.
You get the point.
Get your money’s worth.
If you place an order for something and the item doesn’t arrive, you would bug the shit out of the company until you get it, right?
Likewise, if you vote for a politician on the basis of certain policies and they don’t deliver, contact them and hold them accountable. You put them there.
And don’t just vote with your ballot, vote with your dollar, too.
Every time you make a purchase, you are signalling demand for something.
Your ballot costs you time and energy to cast the same way your dollar costs you time and energy to earn. Be picky.
Use the power of demand to change the supply.
Look for solutions.
On the global level, the current discourse on climate action is one that focuses on responsibility — i.e., who’s responsible for what — which ends up being nothing but a blame game and excuse for free-riding.
But what if we instead adopted a “transformation” framework, where the focus was instead on the opportunities that climate action creates?
Well once it starts being about business opportunities and technological advancements, everything changes. It’s no longer about tree-hugging, it’s about making that cash.
Similarly, on an individual level, if we only focus on what we have to give up, we‘re not looking for better ways of doing things and we’re not seeing the opportunity in it.
Getting off of our dependence on fossil fuels, single-use plastics, and evil assholes requires that we seek out better alternatives and not just be relying solely on the unsustainable supply of willpower and sacrifice.
So keep your eye out.
