I’m not an environmentalist, I’m a god damn human being
People love a label don’t they? Environmentalist, eco, activist, HIPPIE.
I guess I’m all of the above, because I believe in social and environmental justice, and I’m an advocate for human and animal rights. I’d like to think I’m just being a human being, but sadly I learn more and more that I’m a minority.
Is being an altruist to be a minority?
Cambridge Dictionary definition:
The past few weeks have been awful, eye opening and discouraging. The injustices in our society that have been highlighted (they’re not new, they’ve been there) in recent weeks are awful and shameful. And to make matters worse (if that is even possible) the fallout in the UK (I’ll stick to here, as that’s where I am) has been utterly, utterly disheartening.
Quick fire of some recent events:
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“All lives matter”, including the plane flying over the Burnley football match televised nationally
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Anger and distrust of protests and demonstrations for Black Lives Matter
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Queues outside of Primark and Sports Direct, and being urged by the PM to shop for Britain
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Pride flags being adopted in logos by companies who have little to no diversity for pride month
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And, the ridiculous display at beaches around the UK (mass gatherings!)
Where to start?
Let’s clear this up: Being an environmentalist and social justice activist is basically the same thing.
As a human race through mindless greed we have destroyed the beautiful planet that we call home and that affects others.
The destruction we have caused and are contunitung to cause is affecting life on this planet already. The communities it will affect first and the most dramatically include island nation states,
“You know that with a sea-level rise of over 1.5 metres, hundreds of millions of people would be dead. They would simply be wiped out,” – President Mohamed Nasheed of the Republic of Maldives told the UN Chronicle just two days after he addressed other world leaders at the 2009 UN General Assembly Summit on Climate Change.
“Green washing” – so many brands using buzz words like “eco”, “natural”, “compostable”, to carry on as normal selling stuff that we do not need! We NEED to buy less, period! And we need to stop wrapping it in disposable packaging made from plastic that will last a lot longer than the product itself. And we need to stop acting like this planet is our dustbin.
“Pink washing” – Jumping on the bandwagon and posting a pride flag because other companies are doing it is disgusting. Making your workplace inclusive for all is where companies need to start. Flying the flag is disrespectful and frankly bullshit when the company has little to no diversity and doing nothing about it.
“Woke washing” – brands and companies pretending to be doing it for ethical or sustainable reason when really they are just trying to look good and keep up with the Joneses. Ethics and sustainability aren’t trends. We facing a climate emergency and biodiversity disaster. And we will keep shouting.
Chillcott's Circular Thoughts 