When getting food on campus, you may be faced with the choice between using plastic or wooden utensils. The wooden ones are much less effective, so you go ahead and grab a plastic fork to enjoy your lunch. After all, one more piece of plastic in a landfill will not really make a difference. Even if everyone opted for a more eco-friendly option, that decision will not change the fact that fossil fuels are destroying the planet. Without another thought, you use the single-use plastic product, throw it in the trash, and go about your day, because you are aware that the responsibility for climate change does not belong to you.
As climate change is no longer an imminent doom, but rather a current calamity, it may often feel impossible not becoming nihilistic. If just one person is incapable of doing anything to reverse the effects of climate change all on their own, what is the point? Why not just use the plastic water bottles, drive the gas-guzzling vehicles, and eat meat for every single meal? After all, it doesn’t really matter … right?
Perhaps this mindset is attractive. Maybe we, as individuals who care deeply about the environment, are unable to do anything effective in regards to climate change unless the people in power begin to do the same, so there is no reason to put an extra burden upon ourselves. Even so, this does not mean we cannot do anything meaningful.
In becoming nihilistic about the environment, we are disregarding the entire world in which we live – but I do not believe anyone would truly suggest that the world around us is not worth fighting for. Imagine the first warm day of the year, or the first snow of winter- the sounds of the birds chirping that wake you up in the morning, and the crickets you hear as you fall asleep. The expansive ocean in which you swim and the smallest oases of fresh water springs from which you can drink. Nature is not only our environment, but also has the capacity to spark intense emotions, invoke feelings of nostalgia, and shape our entire worldview based upon one’s location. It is more than melting glaciers and devastating natural disasters that feel impossible to overcome – it is right outside our windows.
Even if it is the case that we cannot single handedly save the planet, we should, if for nothing else, be trying to save it for ourselves and one another. Just because our singular actions may not have the most profound impact, this does not mean they are irrelevant. The environment in which we live surely matters, not only for the greater wellbeing of the planet, but for each individual. It matters because it is what constantly surrounds you. In the same way that having a tidy space or making a cup of tea can make one feel loved, caring for the environment surely has the same impact. In doing so, you are actively demonstrating a commitment to a better atmosphere for yourself, not just because it is the right thing to do or will radically change the world, but because you deserve it.
And that demonstration makes adopting sustainable habits and caring for your surroundings a radical act of self-love.