Start with you!
Conscious consumerism and climate crisis, a toxic narrative?
One of the biggest clichés you can utter in the Netherlands when you talk about sustainability, is the phrase: “A better environment starts with you.” (Dutch: Een Beter Milieu Begint Bij Jezelf). It was the tagline of a campaign in the 90s to get people to mind their behaviour with regard to the environment. If only we flew less, showered less, ate less meat and stopped using plastic bags, the planet might survive. It, and campaigns like it, have become the source of many-a moment of self-castigation of conscious consumers around the world. That moment when you forgot your cotton bag and got a plastic one at the store: “Killed another turtle!” Flew to your holiday destination because the train took too long: “Really, polar caps too big for you?”
Is Conscious Consumerism a Deflection Campaign?
So you might say there has rightfully been some discussion about the effectiveness and justifiability of this approach. As Michael E. Mann writes in Time magazine:
“There is a long history of industry-funded “deflection campaigns” aimed to divert attention from big polluters and place the burden on individuals.
Individual action is important and something we should all champion. But appearing to force Americans to give up meat, or travel, or other things central to the lifestyle they’ve chosen to live is politically dangerous: it plays right into the hands of climate-change deniers whose strategy tends to be to portray climate champions as freedom-hating totalitarians.”
The Real Culprits
According to the Guardian, just 100 companies account for 71% of global emissions since 1988, with a starring role for the gas & oil industry. So why am I being asked to ‘do my bit’? That whole wagging-the-finger strategy isn’t just giving me a guilty conscience, it’s alienating the people who ‘just want to live their lives’ without anybody telling them what to do.
People working long hours trying to make ends meet, chasing careers, paying mortgage bills, getting their kids through school and squeezing grocery-runs in between late meetings and soccer practice. And by the time they have a moment to sit down with a cold drink to shut down their minds for the evening, some self-righteous commentator is telling them to worry about plastic in the oceans?
Most people are under enough stress without having to save the planet with every grocery run, take-away coffee or shower they take.
Faulty Metrics for Measuring Progress
Then there are problematic metrics to consider: a cotton bag needs to be used 20,000 times before it can start having less impact than a single-use plastic bag. That’s a lot of trips to the grocery store. Even a paper bag needs to be reused 43 times, so it better not rain! And where were those paper bags sourced from anyway? And what does forest stewardship even mean? Better not to bother, it’s not really my problem anyway, is it? Haven’t Shell and Exxon known about the crap they’d cause for years without doing anything about it?
So who should start?
It is a good question. Those Big Polluters who caused the problem? Or governments who make the rules? Or consumers who vote for change with their ballots and their wallets? Discussions on this topic can go on forever with everybody pointing to each other. But of course the answer is it’s not any one of us; it’s all of us, together. But that’s also why it’s so difficult: it seems like everyone is waiting for the other to move first. And understandably so, I mean why take on the extra burden if no one else is? Why risk voters or revenue or time and effort if no one else is taking the same risk?
In a win or lose society, doing what’s right is a liability. You open yourself up to criticism: progressives will call you weak, conservatives alarmist, shareholders will decry a loss of dividend, NGO’s a loss of biodiversity, vegans will call you a killer, your soccer buddies a killjoy. Everybody’s judging everybody else.
And we do that internally as well. I’ve been reducing my meat intake for years now and it can be a struggle. My conscience comes in to say: “Sorry, no meat: better for the planet” and my ego’s like “What? But I like salami! Salami makes me happy!” And I go into a back and forth until finally I either feel morally gratified and grumpy for not eating it, or satisfied and guilty for indulging. Seems like you can’t win. So what can you do?
How can one balance guilt and indulgence as a consumer?
Well, I decided to take away the guilt and the grumpiness and keep the gratification and satisfaction. The result is I don’t know if I’ll ever not eat salami. But I do know that I barely eat it anymore and when I do, I enjoy the hell out of it. No judgement. And that helps me to not eat it for longer periods.
I’ve also found plenty of comfort foods that don’t make me feel guilty. And that whole package makes me feel better and empowered to take more steps. And that positive attitude helps me to connect with others who consider similar changes and we help each other out. There are still moments where I’ll enjoy a really juicy steak, or take an especially long shower, or I’ll book a plane ticket, or even buy a plastic bag when I’ve forgotten my shopping bag. But I refuse to judge myself for doing what I do.
“I do try to make every choice a conscious one, with the overall goal to live a more balanced, healthy, joyful life. Not because anybody is wagging a finger, but because it makes me enjoy life better.”
How can we instigate change?
Change is gradual and in my opinion, it isn’t served by judgement and finger-pointing. It is served by listening, collaboration and curiosity. And the better you are at doing that for yourself, the better you get at putting it into practice in your work and daily life. So yes, we need the big polluters to take responsibility and we need government policy to accelerate change and we need consumers to buy more responsibly, but I think all of that starts with people, you and me, learning how to be happy with the changes we make for ourselves and supporting the people who aren’t quite there yet.
About the Author
Christiaan Maats is a Dutch designer, entrepreneur and educator interested in ways to create a better world, from person to brand to product. He researches, advises, educates and co-creates to find the answers and make it happen.
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Replenish Earth, a cause and a collective action to protect the global commons — the natural resources we all share. Replenish Earth is focused on ecosystem restoration, with a multidisciplinary approach to creating a positive impact on earth including and not limited to education, eco-therapy (physical and virtual), eco-products, eco-futurism.
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