How (the choice of) Identifying With Culture Can Be Bad For The Environment

I have come under (rather small) scrutiny for ‘preaching’ that certain lifestyles (or taxes) are better than others, that I am certainly subjective, and that I shouldn’t be making others feel guilty for their lifestyle habits. In which case I am guilty of ethnocentrism: the feeling that one’s own culture is superior to that of other cultures. Here is the problem: environmental and resource care and Green trending is seen as a culture. It spreads like a culture, it acts and it is marketed as one, so it faces the same limits as one. Although I feel that the sustainability movement should be independent of cultural biases (which will limit its proliferation) and that it should rather be seen as practical necessity – it will survive best as culture, and hopefully become as big as religion.

Look at this blog, this guy lives a culture! The culture is healthy, and the culture is working. But, it’s going to see adversity from people who’s lifestyle culture is based on supposed freedoms to act as they will…or will be trumped by pure laziness. The problem arises because when you’re faced with the culture of environmental morals, you now have the choice as to whether you want to identify with it or not. Remember, no one’s asking you to save the world.

Change is difficult: Change is tough, but it is worthwhile to change habits, and even location if it benefits your impact on your surroundings – as well as your comfort. Again, why should it take identification with culture to make the effort to recycle? Why effort!

The ‘how come they get to pollute?’, mentality: This is true for both individuals and nations. It is one of the (generalized) standing reasons for why Bush wouldn’t sign with the Kyoto protocol – third world polluters, as bad or worse, are not being pressured to sign to allow for their development, i.e. they all need to experience their industrial revolution. As for individuals, the difference will come one by one – like when we realize that our status symbols are major polluters. Maybe you can finally quit those battles for downtown parking: quit the battle and you win, as well as take the first step against laziness. Furthermore, realize these two destructive thought processes:

1) “if I don’t ‘X’, someone else will do it anyway – so it may as well be me“; and

2) It has already been produced, so I may as well consume it.

The second one is prevalent in wasteful consumption, like paper plates, coffee cups etc; things that are designed to be thrown away.

Ecology isn’t only for nerds: Ecology as a career, unless you’re working for Exxon or General Electric, is still seen as the land of the nerds. One of the best things you can do to keep it simple is make an effort to personally work towards at least one enviro-friendly goal. Second, push to work for a company or vocation that has an actual positive impact – or one that does well in promoting its Green policies. Then, realize that ecology is soon to be trendy again.

It shouldn’t be completely up to environmental careerists to make it simple for the general population to conserve, recycle, and be aware of individual impact. It sure helps when they do, but for the love of god – we are at least self-aware enough to know how and when we’re being lazy.

If we begin to accept the fact that environmental and resource sustainability is not about a ‘culture’ of care, we can start to see that it should be ingrained in our lifestyle. Perhaps those in our generation don’t have the passion to be the next great environmentalists – and the way we were treated to the entirely unfruitful Earth Day as children will add to that – but are we really so low on energy that it takes extra effort to apply ourselves to minimal impact?

Making life as easy as possible for oneself shouldn’t come at the expense of your environment.