I cringe when I hear a comment about recycling or coffee cups at the beginning of a sustainability podcast or panel. Harmless warm up maybe, but it’s that harmless excuse for how hard its all going to be, and how hard we are all trying, before we even get to the ‘how hard it isn’t’ part.
When you commit to reducing your environmental impact, be it through reduction in waste, active travel or working to get your home off fossils, it becomes a way of life. You will stray and even fall off the ‘good and green’ wagon, but you know it’s a journey and after all, no one is perfect.
Once you start to share your experiences with others though, in the hope of encouraging them (peer pressure is the number one influence to change behaviours), you might be surprised when not everyone wants to pat you on the back.
Just as you are proud to announce your latest hard-fought eco-victory or discovery, ambition even, the cries of greenwash and virtue signalling suddenly ring out. How dare you take that high and mighty stance, when you’re clearly not doing enough, what’s worse you’re offending others with your privileged take on sustainability. Wow.
We know it’s a polarised debate. We are ready and expecting people to not want to engage, or to readily tell us how bonkers we are to believe in climate change or the eutopia of sustainability. But, we have a new foe to address now too – the eco-critic. Whatever this person is doing puts them in a position to judge what you are doing. Eco-anxiety has put them on high alert and you’re about to get tarred with a very dirty green brush. You may drive, eat meat, fly or do all of those things, regardless of your other achievements and challenges, you are simply not committed enough and therefore a big part of the problem.
Its useful to be aware, that whilst we are all on a journey, and it will take far more than individual actions to move us toward a more sustainable future, crisis can bring out the best and worst in people. Just as deniers are not worth our energy, eco-critics can also use up too much oxygen. Using the 60:20:20 rule, they are not our audience. We may simply never live up to their expectations, and that’s fine. We are conscious of our actions and we know we need to work hard to reduce them, fast. We also value cooperation and community. Criticism and belligerence isn’t a good start and is a good place to end a conversation. Our energy must be focused on working with those in the middle, those who know we have to change, have the agency to do more than put out the recycling and need our help to find the right path.
