The Problem With Disconnect And Accountability

Over plastic freely I learned a lot about my journey and where my priorities were. Learn more about my thoughts on accountability in the zero waste movement.

It's August and as #plasticfreejuly has officially ended I thought I'd share what I took back from this experience.

Plastic free July if you didn't know is a challenge where hundreds of thousands of people join collectively in committing (as much as they can) to one month of plastic free living. Covid definitely took a toll on the ability to physically shop plastic free, which many people experienced throughout these four weeks. But what I took back most wasn't that one crisis dramatically effects another but that I had lost my connection to the movement and it was present in how I held myself accountable.

When I started my sustainable journey I felt that ALL of the pressure of implementing sustainability into our economy was on me - which I now realize is unrealistic, crazy dare I say. And while that mindset was able to give me a lot of motivation, it affected my mental health dramatically. I wouldn't eat certain essential foods out of fear of my future being taken away from me. It got to a point where I put this movement over everything else in my life - my family, friends, and health.

After that awful stage in my life, I began investing my efforts into "imperfect zero waste living" which made me feel better in the fact that I didn't have to be perfect in what I did and that producing waste wasn't the end of the world. While this mindset of "ditching the trash jar" may have been better for my mental health, it made me feel relaxed - too relaxed. I made myself feel that my impact didn't necessarily matter. To be brutally honest I felt that getting takeout a few times a week wasn't a big deal and that daily runs to a cafe was part of my "imperfections". 

But the thing I realize now, is that having a mindset like that runs off a place of privilege and disconnects me from this movement. It does more harm than good to vulnerable communities who can't limit their waste as I can. The waste I produce impacts communities around said waste's production. So while not everyone can reduce their waste, it's important for those who can, to use their privilege to do so. 

I think that there is a difference between doing what you can and being in that "relaxed" state. This post is not to bring anyone done whatsoever, but to hopefully be a reminder to those that may need it.