I’ve been an active environmentalist for about one year, educating myself and others on different aspects of helping the planet. I deeply love other members of the movement, but at the same time, I’ve been noticing extremely toxic practices becoming popular among us, and it’s harming the movement deeply. So let’s address it.

Perfectionism

The internet is becoming flooded with sustainability tips. Going vegan, taking shorter showers, turning off the lights, and thrifting clothes. These are all good practices, however, is it possible some people are taking them too far? Let me explain.

There is nothing wrong with putting a focus on environmentally friendly practices. All the time, I encourage them, and implement them myself. The issue arrises when we feel intense guilt just for taking a bath, or point fingers at others for eating meat.

What I wish people would understand is that living sustainably is a slow process. It doesn’t happen overnight. It comes from implementing one habit at a time. It comes from the small decisions you make every day. The process of sustainable living is like a ladder— with each step of the ladder representing a tiny, actionable step you take towards this desired lifestyle.

Perhaps for one step you buy a tote bag instead of using plastic bags. Then, when you are ready, you start thrifting. When you are ready to take the next step, maybe you buy a reusable water bottle, and so on.

Another important thing to understand is that not everyones ladder is the same. We all live different lives with different journeys and different needs. Maybe cutting meat from your diet is possible, but what if someone elses’ body has more particular needs? This is just a random example to demonstrate that not every sustainable practice is for you, and not every practice you can implement will work for someone else.

Being eco-conscious isn’t a jump from never caring about the environment to perfect, completely sustainable living. It’s a process, journey, and scale.

What really makes me ache inside is when I see someone shamed for not living each and every one of the ideals of sustainability; they haven’t yet completed the ‘checklist’ of do’s and don’ts, and have become a target for this black and white thinking.

If someone is trying their best, I really don’t care how far along they are in their journey. I’m happy to walk ahead of them and lead the way, walk beside them and be their companion, or walk behind them and follow their footsteps.

Building eco-friendly mindsets is a messy, flawed, and sometimes frustrating process that requires patience, education, and community, not shame and guilt.

Over-focusing On Individual Sustainability

Please note, that individual sustainability is an amazing thing to put into practice! It is beneficial when an individual consciously makes a difference.

It is not so beneficial when individual sustainability (and by this I mean the lifestyle of the individual) becomes your sole dependence.

The sustainability of the lifestyle of individuals only solves part of the problem involving climate change and irresponsible use of earth’s resources.

It is the sustainability of large corporations and government policy that solves the rest.

Large companies, rich billionaires, and corrupt governments are the biggest cause of carbon emissions. Not your neighbor that takes a bath every day and keeps a light on all night. Not the meat consumed by the average American. Not the mini plastic water bottle you drank last week.

It’s important to zoom in on the personal impact and carbon footprint you create. But if this is your only focal point, you’re missing the bigger picture. Because it’s also important to zoom out and understand that unless we target the greed of the elite, the issue won’t yet be solved.

Misrepresentation

These levels of toxic perfectionism actively scare people away from the movement as a whole. Once they hear that they ‘have’ to go vegan or other extremes, they don’t want to join in the first place.

They aren’t told that they’re welcome as they are, and will be able to find their place as a beginner, gradually being encouraged to take steps towards progress. They are told they need to change everything about their life, and fast, because they are the problem.

They are given misinformation which causes them to become frustrated with our community, confusing our ideals and becoming closed off to our voices.

I am not saying in any way that we should becoming quieter to fit the boxes others will put us in. The anger, passion, and want for justice that keeps us loud are beautiful things. What I am cautioning is to be careful with whom that anger is directed towards.

The progression of environmental action and awareness is slowed by animosity and negativity. Any progress in any area is slowed by negativity. If we use hatred and shame as weapons and fuel we will never be able to sustain a movement.

Forward progression is created when we use positivity and compassion. It’s just the way our brains are designed. When we only focus on everything that’s wrong and never celebrate all the things we’re doing right, we can never win. Because with that attitude, it will never be enough.

The only sustainable fuel is the one that uses passion, justice, and love. You can’t rest a movement on shame and expect its weight to be carried.

Know Who Really Opposes You

We need to understand who’s hurting the earth. The people who are hurting the earth are the people who never try to care. If you at least try, that means there’s room to grow, and it doesn’t matter how imperfectly you start out.

The beginner environmentalists are not the opposition. No matter what mistakes they make, or which habits they have that can be potentially harmful, they are not the problem.

They are trying to help. They are trying to learn. Meet them with education, not shame. Welcome them, teach them, and inspire them. Show them what they’re doing right, along with what they’re doing wrong, using constructive criticism rather than berating them.

I don’t care if you want to admit it or not, but you can’t create change without them. So stand with them or fail, the choice is yours.

Today I am celebrating my ninth post for The Wasteland Diaries. I’ve written one post about pollution, seven about endangered animals, and one wake-up call. One thing I haven’t done is clearly express the reasons and goals behind these writings. I really hope you will read the rest of this post to learn them!

1. Passion

The main reason I write (or do anything in general) is because I am a passionate individual. I don’t do something if I see no point. My greatest hope is that you can see this passion demonstrated in my words.

I loved nature since I was little, but didn’t realize how bad things were getting with climate change threatening plants and animals. I remember becoming an activist when I was literally seven. I’m not even joking. I would preach to my parents and siblings about child slave labor, sexism, and social injustice. (By the way I had no idea what ‘social injustice’ even was. I just got mad at everything I thought was unfair in the world.)

I wrote my first paper about one of these passions when I was I was (8?). I also wrote a letter to the Hershey’s company lecturing them about the methods they used to get their cocoa beans. I wrote three letters to different news companies, but I’m pretty sure none of them got to the companies because it rained and the letters got super wet or something.

I tried to publish an article about child slave labor used in another country to grow cocoa beans on Medium when I was like 11. I wrote letters to Joe Biden as well about the climate in Haiti. (Obviously he didn’t actually read them, but I did received letters back probably by some sort of automated system in place.)

That was when I first began environmental research.

2. Big Dreams

I guess people call it ‘cringe’ when you say you’re a dreamer, but it’s very true. My Substack is one of the passion projects I hope can help me get to Yale in the future, if I continue posting frequently and gain recognition. Of course this is only one way I’m doing this.

After graduation, the goal is (please don’t call me crazy or unrealistic, I’ve already proved to myself I’m a multitasker) to be an environmental policy advisor, habitat restoration specialist, influencer and later (it takes a few years) an environmental policy maker.

I’m very excited to one day call the shots and make better, more sustainable rules, and educate the public on issues that matter. That’s part of the reason I enjoy writing these articles so much, not only does it spread awareness, but I’m learning too!

3. A Hobby

It’s not just a passion project, it’s also a hobby to write. Creating things myself and putting work into my Substack is my idea of fun. I’m not just trying to monetize or guilt trip people into subscribing, (though I am eternally grateful for each and every subscription!) I just really like the writing process.

Posting notes and articles are the most satisfying feelings in the world to me, (Okay, maybe that’s an overstatement) but it does really make me feel accomplished, productive, and happy.

I’m currently working on a novel. Writing is one of my favorite ways to express myself, my voice and my thoughts. Without it I’m not sure what I would do.

4. Obviously For the Planet

I just so happen to live on this planet, along with everyone I’ve ever known. So yeah, one could say I care about it. I don’t understand how you can live here and not give a second thought about nature in the least.

Like… this is literally our home…

5. Awareness and Education

I think I mentioned this previously. (Y’know, like in every post I’ve ever written…) Spreading awareness is and will always be a very important endeavor.

But don’t get me wrong. Awareness without action is pointless. The whole point of awareness is so we can take action as both individuals and as a society. You can’t fix a problem you don’t know about, but there’s no point in knowing about the problem if you have no intent to solve it.

“But think. If we took action near as much as we spoke of it, how different would the world be today?”

— me

(Feel free to use this quote with credits to me. If I become a big-time, well-spoken activist this is going to be what I say 24/7.)

If we don’t educate the public, the public will never know when or how to act. (There’s another good one.)

Why Not?

I only have one life to live. Why not try to have a positive impact on this world? Why not strive for academic excellence, strength in sports, have a loud, proud, and kind voice, shoot for the moon, make a few people mad, inspire change?

Personally, I don’t see why not. Of course interests vary in different people. Having goals doesn’t have to look like this. Everyone has different goals, and these are some of mine. It’s what excites me enough to get out of bed in the morning.

So why not?

I hope this post told you about me and the reasons behind my writing! I would appreciate it if you subscribed so you can follow along and read all of my work! You don’t have to if you won’t read, though!

As always, leave a like or a comment so I know you read all the way through this post. I always respond to questions and commentors (the non-toxic kind) so feel free to speak! And if you wouldn’t mind telling me your favorite endangered animal that you would like me to post about, I would be happy to.

If I were evil and I had the power to poison humanity, I wouldn’t use fire. I would use comfort.

I wouldn’t scare them, I would entertain them.

I would make sure they were so far deep into their distractions they wouldn’t even notice if the very ground they stood on was decaying.

And here’s exactly how.

1. Numb their minds

I would flood them with noise and stimulation. I would use their brain structure against them, training them to crave dopamine and prioritize it above truth. I would overwhelm them in a loud world, giving them no rest. They would become addicted to an endless cycle of short bursts of fake happiness, only to realize they need even more just to ‘feel’. I would cover true joy with cycles of lies, using their own inventions against them.

This would only increase the overwhelm they feel, so as to ensure they turn back to the dopamine, to the media, to the substance, or to the lies and distractions they use over and over and over again. It would never be enough to fill the void, but they would just keep feeding it, desperate to feel something again. They will be too overstimulated and numb to care anymore.

2. Mock the ones who break the loop

If they break the cycle I created, I will turn the rest against them. Caring is cringe. Speaking up is annoying. Speaking out makes you a nuisance. Compassion is far too dramatic, and anyone who tries to create positive change is “too much”.

This will defeat uprisings, distorting the truth into embarrassment. It will prevent unwanted light from spreading, drowning out the voice of change, forcing it to fade into the rest of the noise.

It will create division, turning love and kindness into hatred and harm only because it is different, and different is bad.

3. Disguise greed as convenience, and sell it

I would wrap poison with fancy packaging, making it colorful and a delight to the eye. They will waste their energy for the sake of ‘convenience’, making them worship the ‘easy way’.

Their habitat will waste away in the greed of their economy. Sellers will manipulate buyers, forcing buyers to become a slave to their money after it’s wasted. They will obsess over numbers, forgetting the consequences of their spending habits.

The planet they inhabit will wither, worsening the chaos they are already trapped in. They will point fingers, blaming each other to alleviate the guilt instead of coming together to solve the problem, destroying harmony and communication.

4. Destroy their relationship with their habitat

I would pave the forests and cut the trees. Kill the species that benefit them the most. Kill the species that make them feel something.

Turn nature into wallpapers, severing the physical ties they have to planet earth with illusions. Make them forget they belong to the planet. Turn it into nothing but land to own and sell.

5. Rewrite what it means to be human

I would let their core values and beliefs come from fleeting trends. They will fall into insecurities, obsessed with finding the perfect body and wearing the most popular brands. Create impossible ideals, turning them into walking corpses when they forget they have souls rather than just physical appearance.

They will lose their hearts to fit the standards of others, chasing lies blindly. Who cares if you’re kind if you can’t fit in? I will whisper to them every day, but they won’t notice me. They will mistake me for their own voice, for their own thoughts. They won’t even know I exist.

In other words, I wouldn’t need to do anything at all. Many have already fallen into this cycle.

The result?

Sickness. Anxious, tired people without heart. Judgement before grace. Addiction. Generations that are more and more disconnected.

A planet begging for help, and a generation too numb to hear it.

The question is— What will you do about it?

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Our climate is not too far gone. Our endangered species aren’t all dead yet. Hope is never abandoned. Change is not far off. We need only wake up from the loop we are trapped in.

If you would like more specific action steps to help protect our planet, subscribe and read my other posts. The purpose of The Wasteland Diaries is to help each other help our earth.

If this post had any impact on you— feel free to give it a restack and like. I hope you enjoyed it, and if so let me know why in the comments!