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Peak Eco-anxiety - thanks brain 👌🏽

 Am I trying to be zero waste? Plastic free? Eco friendly? Clean living? Green living? Sustainable lifestyle? What do these titles even mean? I just want to make sure I'm not contributing to the 'climate apocalypse' (I only recently found out that was real turn of phrase).

Intrusive thoughts I have nearly everyday

  • "I'm not doing enough"
  • "I need to be doing more"
  • "We have too much plastic waste in the house, we are polluting the earth, it's going in the sea, it's killing the turtles"
  • "The glitter from my old nail polish is now in fish"

Constant guilt for putting my own convenience over the needs of the planet.

And so I try to do more, and it's still not enough. I've actually have made lots of positive changes over the last five years but I can't stop, there feels like there is still so much more to do. And the more I look into it the more I find. I guess ignorance really is bliss! In a bid to educate and inform myself so not to be ignorant or naive I have just made myself more angry and feeling more powerless and more helpless than ever.

Our wilderness and wildlife has been maltreated for so long by humans who crave riches, land and status above all else, that it cannot be undone by one person alone. How can those of us meer mortals who may only be able to utilise their time, patience and energy (and in most cases monetary means) begin to make a difference?  

It seems that we can sign petitions, go on rallies, try to elect a half decent government, but as long as there are lobbyists and those willing to do _anything_ to protect profits things won't change. If people can still legally own guns in America despite incomprehensible statistics on gun violence, then what chance does nature have? It just seems like a no brainer to immediately ban guns to save human lives or make proactive decisions to tackle the climate emergency and save the planet, but the problem remains that whilst money and power can puppeteer politics to maintain profits. 

"Your pounds are your power" Meghan McCubbin says in her book coauthored with Chris Packham  Back to Nature (How to love it and save it). This has resonated with me for a few days now, and got me thinking, if we stop giving 'them' our money then they won't have the same profits and therefore 'we' will start to take away their power. After all don't we all work hard for our money and pay our taxes? Where and how you spend your hard earned cash could make the world of difference. I have regularly gotten frustrated that sustainable swaps or 'eco friendly' alternatives are more expensive and so makes it much more difficult for those with lower income to afford it. But the other side of that is these sustainable options are probably priced right for what they are but unfortunately whilst 'cheap' options are available then of course people will purchase what they need to maximise their spending. Unfortunately there will be a cost to someone or something else back up the production process (single use plastic destined for landfill, sweat shops and child labour, poorly made goods that fall apart). This is by no means a judgement on what and how people spend - I am trying to make a point of those responsible for putting those options out for sale and profiteering in the first place. 

Do enough of us have the time, patience and energy to make small changes to how we spend our everyday money? Is it more expensive? Is it worth it?

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