WHY IS BEING ECOFRIENDLY SO DIFFICULT?

The human ego has been a powerful driving force of environmental destruction. Throughout history, almost every celebratory win for human civilisation has been a tragic loss for the environment The industrial revolution, which allowed us to reap the benefits of the apogee of technological innovation, has equally allowed for the contemporary plutocrat to make immeasurable profit, satisfy their self-indulgent corporate needs and fund their lavish lifestyle at the expense of the environment

The worship of capital in today’s society is driven by individualism: money is sought after because buying and consuming has average of all 32 clothing s up in a rising carding of the can be orm of removing the self interest to instead promote the interest of the other, the future of humanity, the planet But then why is it still so difficult for people to be altruistic?

Buying an outfit on SHEIN, eating more burgers than we should, and forgetting to bring a reusable coffee cup are all common behaviours, yet these 'habits' have environmental consequences. Meat consumption is a practice that has been present in almost every society across the planet. Asking the average person to stop eating burgers, chicken or steak could mean asking them to abandon a big part of their diet and lifestyle. Equally, SHEIN, despite its disastrous environmental output, is so incredibly accessible and affordable to the point of revolutionising the online shopping industry, that discouraging people from buying SHEIN clothes proves to be a very difficult endeavour.

It is not only the fault of these companies who indulge in profiting and neglect their environmental effects, but we are also liable for these impacts as we endorse these industries Is it really worth it to maintain these 'habits' and our acceptance of the environmental repercussions, because we are too lazy to change them?

As a student, we have been subject to flatmates forgetting to switch the bathroom light off, discussing how much of the heating we should turn on and being frustrated when the faucet is still running. However, leaving the light on has severe implications for our carbon dioxide emissions, heating results in severe energy consumption and leaving the faucet on generates significant amounts of wastewater We are constantly concerned with how much electricity will cost us, yet the effects on the environment are frequently overlooked.

We have all been guilty of overbuying and failing to check the expiration dates, unfortunately resulting in discarding items that could have previously been salvaged. 26,082 tonnes of food goes to waste every single day, primarily due to our own negligence. Over 70% of food waste in the UK is generated at a household level, thus individuals bear a significant amount of the responsibility for wastage We have a moral responsibility to understand the implications of wastage and take accountability for it Small gestures such as reducing how much we buy or composting our food can significantly help, so why are we not doing this?

All of these examples ultimately beg the question: why have we, as a society, allowed our home planet to reach such levels of climate devastation and yet still struggle to make any substantial and material difference to mitigate the now urgent circumstances? There is a general conception that humans are innately selfish and only act in their own self interest In fact, there is a theory that goes as far back as Pluto, ancient Greece, which states that if all sanctions imposed by the social contract were lifted, humans would act on their violent, selfish tendencies without regard for others.

Whether this has been prov as fact, it is undeniable th everyone has self tendencies: we all want indulge in the simple pleasu in life, whether it is grabbing coffee in the morning in plastic cup, or getting a ne coat because it looks nic even though we already have couple on the hanger waiti to be worn. Even if we a aware of the ubiquito environmental impacts unused clothes that end up landfills, carbon emissions fr the shipping, or t exploitation of forests to ma paper cups, they are so removed from our daily liv that it has become difficult realise the effects of o actions.

Shifting the blame on t average citizen is easy. They only small changes, why can’t all make them and commit to them? It’s easy to say we will lower the heating to lower its environmental costs, but the fact that it is slightly more tedious and laborious to find and slip on more clothes will make us immediately fall back onto the more efficient solution of the greater good. But in the current circumstances, only through the painful abandonment of unnecessary and harmful habits, whether it be on a domestic, behavioural or corporate and industrial scale, will we be able to see a glimmer of hope through the climate crisis.