As the climate collapses around us and sea creatures choke to death on the plastic rings from that six pack of Carling, it’s hard not to feel a bit guilty about the trouble our ailing planet is experiencing.

While it would be nice if the leaders of the world could at least affect a modicum of concern about, I don’t know, an imminent climate apocalypse, they’re far too busy reupholstering their private jets so we’ll just have to work it out for ourselves.

 

Like most people, I’ve been staring hopelessly and with increasing alarm into the encroaching abyss of climate change, agitatedly flipping lights off and hunting for palm-oil free spreadable – but I’ve never managed to be consistent. Despite being genuinely concerned about the environment and angry about our collective lack of action, I still found myself only vaguely attempting to change my own lifestyle because I never felt that I was making enough of a difference. It’s hard to commit to something when it doesn’t have a visible effect.

One week into my plastic-free adventure, I’ve come up with a few thoughts about why that is, and why going plastic-free is a good way to combat it.

Why isn’t it easy being green?

An age old question. It boils down to the fact that it’s hard to stay motivated when you don’t feel you’re making a difference, and it’s hard to feel you’re making a difference when a) the effects of your actions are intangible and b) you don’t feel accountable.

Scenario:

Greenhouse gases are a big problem in the production of electricity using fossil fuels – we have to reduce our consumption of it so that less has to be produced. I’ll make sure I save as much energy as I can.

Intangible: Even if I’m religious about turning off lights, I can’t see what impact my actions are having. Saving electricity is something that only has a measurable effect when it’s done on a large scale. For all the moral conviction in the world, I feel powerless and ineffective.

Unaccountable: because we consume electricity as a collective, it’s hard to accept individual blame for the problem. Although I feel concerned about the effect of electricity production on the climate, I don’t feel personally accountable.

Together, that leads to a sort of apathy towards eco-friendly habits and choices – my actions don’t have a visible effect on their own, plus it’s not really my fault anyway.

Scenario 2:

I put a big red X on all the plastic I throw away. A bird washes up with my cable tie stuck around its beak, unable to eat. A turtle has to be cut out of a six-pack ring I threw away. My plastic bags and cups are found in a whale’s stomach.

Tangible: If I hadn’t thrown those things away, those things wouldn’t have happened. There’s a clear and simple connection between my actions and the health of the environment.

Accountable: There is no way to avoid that those things were my fault. My personal choices and waste caused that harm, and I feel personal guilt about the problem, increasing my motivation to change it.

Obviously, things like saving energy, boycotting environmentally damaging companies/products, and protesting are still valuable; though it might make us feel like a tiny drop in the plastic filled ocean, that ocean is made up of little drops and eventually, there will be enough to make a difference.

But staying motivated when you don’t feel connected to the consequences of your actions is difficult – at least I think it’s been the main problem for me.

For anyone else out there who’s feeling the same way, attempting to live a low plastic lifestyle is feeling like a good way to solve that problem – and so far I’ve found my motivation to keep up other eco-friendly habits has increased as well.