By Sondra Moore

There is a lot of bad news for anyone concerned with environmental issues.  It’s easy to see how one could feel hopeless about what is happening.  From the threat of a blue ocean event to the deforestation of Borneo to the relentless nature of plastic accumulation and the seeming futility of recycling, we are bombarded by deeply discouraging information.  Even attempts to do the right thing by our planet seem to create more misery and destruction.  The Gilets Jaunes movement in France is, on a grass-roots level (I’m not going to address possible Russian involvement here), based on a reaction to gasoline taxes, which were intended to help push back against climate change, but have created rage among the non-rich, who are burdened the most by consumption taxes.  Borneo’s rapid and devastating deforestation is fueled by the palm oil industry, which was, horrifyingly, promoted by American politicians during the George W. Bush administration looking to promote biofuels, then seen as a climate-positive product.  And on a micro level, last week I watched as my neighbor across the street dropped a trash bag full of what sounded like bottles and cans into his recycling bin, and wanted to cross the street to tell him the trash bag would jam the sorting machinery. Not that it matters, as we have learned that China, the biggest consumer of recycled material, is no longer buying our used bottles, cans, and paper because we aren’t able to tell the difference between a clean bundle of newspaper and a stack of soiled paper plates from a pizza party. 

The recent midterm elections give us some sign of hope.  Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez speaks about a New Green Deal, which would direct political will towards environmentally sound policies.  Other elections were won by Democrats all over the country, and this gives us some encouragement that, at the very least, there will be some energy in state capitals and city governments for a change in priorities. 

What allows or compels us to continue to try to make a positive difference in the world, and especially to focus on environmental issues?  Is it an attempt to claim the moral high ground, so that even as the world burns around us we can feel that we did something?  Is it a belief that we are making a difference?  How do individuals, even those who care passionately about their cause, sustain their energy for it in the face of what seems a species-wide commitment to destroying our shared home? 

One of India’s traditional religions, Jainism, holds the belief that individuals attain spiritual merit through minimizing their impact on the world.  Other religions also contain practices that emphasis minimalist lifestyles and reduced consumption.  Perhaps this is the answer, not to get religion if we don’t already have it, but to examine the role that possessions play in our lives, especially our emotional lives.  We recognize that while our culture seems to hijack any movement towards a simpler lifestyle and try to sell us more consumer products to appeal to our desire for change, we can resist the draw of the latest consumer good, whether it be based on recycled fibers or not.  As we have been saying for a long time, we can ask ourselves if we need to make that purchase.  We can also consider if the choices we are making are the lesser of the two evils.  That shampoo bar may not come in a plastic bottle, but was it made from palm oil?  Are we driving 25 miles to that rally when we could write postcards from home?  Or is our presence needed to pressure those in power to listen?  None of these questions has a settled answer for me.  What seems crucial right now is maintaining motivation to stay involved rather than retreating in despair.  If we allow ourselves to give up, then the dystopia is already here, regardless of the outcome.  Additionally, to recognize that there are no pure choices, merely choices that are, to the best of our knowledge in the moment, better than others.