by Celeste Barnes-Crouse

Allow me to preface this article with this: I’ll be the first to admit that I’m guilty of promoting the “sustainable lifestyle” (refusing single-use plastics, buying organic foods, driving less often, etc.) as trendy and achievable. While this comes from a genuine desire to make better choices for the planet, it is flawed. Writing this piece is a way to acknowledge my privilege to engage in sustainable living and discuss where the movement could improve. When I say “my privilege”, I’m referring to the “unearned cultural, legal, social, and institutional rights [or benefits] extended to a group [or individual] based on their group [race, class, ability, etc.] membership”. I recognize that my race and socio-economic position enable me to participate in sustainability more readily than others.

How we approach the sustainable lifestyle needs to be reassessed. Much of it over-emphasizes the power of our dollars: that we, as consumers, can adjust our buying habits to control the market and advocate for a green economy. Inherently, this solution is rooted in privilege and predominantly allows middle-class white Americans to participate. Low-income communities and people of color are disproportionately impacted by the effects of climate change, as they have been systematically displaced to living in areas that are more prone to environmental risks. While facing more serious conditions, people with lower incomes are limited in their ability to buy into the sustainable lifestyle of more expensive organic foods, plastic alternatives, and locally-made items.

Additionally, it takes personal time to engage with sustainability. Time is required to buy and cook fresh foods (which is exacerbated for over 2% of American households who live in food deserts), to research strategies to meet sustainability goals, or to cycle or use public transit instead of driving. Time is a luxury that many people can’t afford if they have long commutes, are working one or more jobs, and/or caring for family or children. Prioritizing those needs should not be interpreted as being uncaring about the environment.

Those with the power to create change (i.e. governments and corporations) are skirting accountability for the massive impacts they create. The fact that corporations continue to mass-produce items sold in plastic packaging is the crux of the waste problem. Year after year, plastic production has increased drastically, reaching 322 million tonnes in 2015. This is expected to double by the year 2025. These products are often inexpensive to the consumer because the true costs of the product – the environmental costs –  are not factored into the corporations’ bottom line.

One potential solution to this could be governments implementing extended producer responsibility (EPR), a system that demands that corporations take financial or physical responsibility for the lifecycle of the waste they create. This could cause corporations to reduce plastic pollution at the source, which saves them money in the long-run, and cut down significantly on environmental impacts. Alternatively, government could incentivize or subsidize companies that voluntarily develop or switch to plastic-free packaging solutions.

So, let’s reshape the way we engage with sustainable living and going zero-waste. Yes, we should encourage people to make changes and informed decisions, and others should add their voices to this effort, if they can and if this suits their priorities. Additionally, we must place the brunt of the responsibility of addressing environmental problems on the entities that caused the greatest impacts and have the agency fix them: corporations and governments.

If you’re feeling disillusioned with sustainable living – don’t be! If you want to get involved, here are some suggestions:

You can use your privilege to make environmentalism more inclusive

• Contact your government representatives and ask for EPR or other action on corporate waste and single-use plastics
• Vote for candidates with platforms focusing on environmental issues
• Donate to non-profits working on these causes
• Volunteer in community clean-ups

Refuse and reduce plastic where you can

• Save glass jars from your groceries (spaghetti sauce, jam, etc.) and reuse them as storage containers, cups, or to use in the bulk food section at the grocery store
• Use reusable bags instead of plastic bags
• Ask your servers for no straws in your drinks
• Carry a refillable water bottle
• Refuse plastic cutlery by carrying a fork from your house
• Reduce how often you grab food and drinks on-the-go to cut back on wrappers and cups

Reduce consumption

• Borrow from the library (they have more than books!)
• Avoid fast fashion by shopping for fewer items or shopping secondhand. Textiles demand a lot of resources to create and pile up in our landfills.
• Try out “Meatless Monday.” Meat production, especially beef, generates greenhouse gas emissions and demands a lot of land and water. Consuming less meat reduces your personal ecological footprint.