Personally, we cannot end climate change.But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try
Photo: Pixabay https://pixabay.com/photos/hangers-clothing-shopping-market-1850082/
In early 2022, I set myself a goal: not to buy new clothes for a year.
That doesn’t mean I can’t buy clothes; it means they have to be vintage. Clothing that has been around for decades is no longer guilty of extracting raw materials from the earth and adding more carbon to our atmosphere.
new to me but not new.
I’m three weeks away from starting my MS in Sustainability Management at Columbia University, and I feel compelled to live up to expectations of how sustainability students should live: consume less, and when necessary, responsibly.
I did it five months before I gave in and bought a button-down shirt from Uniqlo. To be less betrayal to our planet, I opted for a 100% cotton shirt. At least it’s not plastic.
I feel hypocritical and guilty. But many people think that unsustainable small decisions like mine don’t matter.Sustainability Author Elizabeth Klein writes “Ethical consumers,” those who buy only organic and fair trade, can’t do anything about the company and its quest for endless financial growth. She said she slept well in “immoral pajamas” because she knew it wasn’t our responsibility to fix the planet. It depends on the company and the government.
With this knowledge, I can’t sleep.
I wonder how we can come together to demand change if we change nothing in our individual lives. It’s true that we don’t have many options to live an eco-friendly life. Most of us don’t have the means to grow our own food, or travel by car, or compost.
We neither have the time nor the resources to audit all the companies we buy to verify their commitment to sustainability, and even if we do, we may find ourselves with few truly green products and services to choose from. Still, I’m having a hard time understanding how this translates to buying anything, doing anything, it doesn’t really matter.
Many of those closest to me are also white and upper-middle class, educated and aware of the catastrophe of climate change. They are people who care about the world around them and have ways to help improve it, so I encourage them to set sustainable goals for themselves too.
We are a privileged group and arguably benefit from the same power structures that lead us into this critical life-or-death moment. We can afford a little inconvenience if we don’t do the right thing, at least the less wrong thing. Our choices matter. My friends and family are mostly still in their daily lives, which is frustrating and baffling.
My sister is constantly anxious about the future of our planet. She also recently told me that she needs to buy three new outfits for her birthday weekend.
An old friend expressed his anger at the government’s failure to implement better environmental policies and regulations. He is considering a job at a major oil company.
My dad partly blames Jeff Bezos for many of the world’s environmental problems, but orders something new from Amazon almost every day.
I am a student in one of the most prominent sustainability programs in the country. I take a long shower and love to travel by plane and just bought a few tops that I don’t need because they are on sale.
At one point, a classmate articulated the importance of equity in sustainable development, noting that there is no real progress if marginalized groups are left behind. She then admits that of course she makes impulse purchases of things she doesn’t need, blaming the habit on the fact that she’s just a victim of the system she lives in.
I don’t buy it. We are not cogs in the machine. We can make better choices, although some are easier than others. Eating less red meat is an easy transition. Learning to be happy with what we already have takes time, but it can be done. Buying an electric car is still out of reach for many, but not everyone. Those of us who have the privilege of choice should use it wisely, develop new habits that are more in line with our ethics, and practice what we preach.
I recently spent an hour browsing the internet for swimwear. I didn’t buy anything. My choice didn’t save the world, but it might help make it worse.
Isabel Oskwarek is a student in Columbia University’s Master of Sustainability Management program.
