Confessions of an environmentalist

It’s the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day and I have a confession. There is a lot of plastic in my life. I’m an environmentalist who specializes in waste reduction for a living  — but don’t look too closely in my grocery cart. 

Yes, I bring my reusable water bottle with me everywhere. I remember my reusable bags 9 out of 10 trips to the store (they are temporarily prohibited here in Massachusetts but that’s another story all together). I have my handy set of bamboo utensils in my purse, a reusable straw, and we are all about cloth napkins in our household. Still, there are plenty of zero-waste advocates out there that are better models of a waste free lifestyle. I applaud the people who make their own granola and use shampoo bars - I’m not there, yet. 

Culturally, we are addicted to convenience. When I look at all the items in my shopping cart wrapped in copious amount of packaging — I realize just how much the time scarcity/ busyness narrative of our society has influenced my purchasing habits. I’m a new mother who works a full time job — I don’t have time to make my own baby food or wash cloth diapers. Or, do I? 

Happy #EarthDay from our future generation!

I share with you my shortcomings when it comes to plastic waste, in part because I wholeheartedly agree with what Zero Waste Chef, Anne Marie Bonneau, says: 

“We don’t need a handful of people doing zero waste perfectly. We need millions of people doing it imperfectly.” Our collective action can make a difference. We all have an important role to play.

As I personally grapple with how my family can reduce our waste footprint —  it’s important to remember that many of these environmental practices are privileges. Not everyone can afford an electric vehicle or to install solar panels. Making handmade yogurt in an instant pot in order to avoid the plastic containers may not be feasible for the single mother just trying to keep her child fed while working multiple jobs. 

Watching the Frontline Plastic Wars exposé made me sick to my stomach, I mean this literally - I physically felt nauseous. How was I, a vocal proponent for the 3R’s (reduce, reuse, recycle) feeding into this narrative that the responsibility for the surmounting environmental problems falls solely on us - the individual consumer? How am I (unintentionally) perpetuating the myth that we can simply switch to reusable coffee mugs or recycle our way out of this mess? 

Beyond our individual imperfect environmental actions, we also need wide-spread systemic changes. We need policy solutions such as local plastic bag bans and Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for difficult to manage materials including (but not limited to) packaging, electronics, batteries, mattresses and paint. We need Right to Repair legislation. We need companies re-thinking their packaging design, product durability, repairability and end-of-life disposal. The burden cannot and should not fall solely on individual consumers.

This Earth Day I find myself critically questioning what I’m doing in the name of convenience and how I can take another step forward on my “green” journey. I’m also, possibly more importantly, questioning how I can speak up for these larger system wide changes that shift the heavy burden of environmental stewardship, at least in part, off of the individual.

I don’t have all the answers but sometime the first step is just asking the hard questions.