The Perfect Environmentalist

You will never be a perfect environmentalist. Neither will I, nor will your favorite climate activist. No one will. There is no such thing as a perfect environmentalist.

Here’s the thing: we live in a broken system. The cars we can afford to drive, the spaces we choose to live and work in, the way we travel, the availability of food - it all leads us to inevitable participation in systems that perpetuate climate change and the degradation of the environment. And we will never fully shed the burden of our carbon footprints.

Ok. Now take a deep breath. Being an environmental activist or a champion for our oceans doesn’t mean you have to sell your car, never get on an airplane again, go off the grid or only eat the food you can hunt and forage in a nearby forest.

Being an environmental activist isn’t about perfection, it’s about striving towards progress. It’s a lifelong commitment to constantly doing better and gently teaching and urging others to do the same. It’s a scary acknowledgement of the broken systems you still participate in.

What does being an environmental activist look like to you? How do you ‘do better’ in your daily life?

We can all contribute to the global environmental movement by adopting changes that are within easy reach. For me, it’s cutting red meat from my diet, participating in local cleanups, sourcing my food locally and shopping at a buy-in-bulk, zero-waste stores whenever I can. It’s carrying a reusable toolkit that contains bamboo cutlery, a stainless steel straw and a reusable water bottle, and choosing to recreate closer to home. When it comes to sustainability, everyone has a role to play and everyone can make a difference, whether they adopt changes big or small. I’m proud of what I’ve done so far, and I hope that you can feel the same way about your own work.

“The small choices we make each day can lead to the kind of world that we all want for the future.” - Dr. Jane Goodall