But maybe it should be? On a macro level at least. Competition between countries. “Who can be the most sustainable” use our hunger for competition as fuel for positive change. 🤷🏼♂️
Henry Hall that sounds like something that would only work in western countries with more individualistic views. What I meant with my comment is that it won’t benefit anyone to just go on a witch-hunt and bully all the people who aren’t doing ‘enough’
Yeah on an interpersonal level it drives me crazy when people make it a contest and shame others for their lifestyles, for reasons explained in this video. When it comes up, I tell people what I do to help and why so that they have the information and can make their own decisions about their lives. Shaming people makes this movement seem uptight and for "snowflakes" when obviously that's not the case. Shaming people for not being part of a movement doesn't make them want to join, it pretty much does the opposite.
@Gabrielle Boilard I totally agree, I know a few people like that. I just hope people don't buy into gimmicky products too much because there are so many free and effective things anyone can do like bringing to-go boxes for leftovers, reusing plastic containers, or turning the heat down in the winter. But at least they're getting the word out and people are taking it seriously!
Everyone’s talking about getting bamboo toothbrushes or reusable bags, but you never hear anyone talking about technology. So so many people are getting new phones, computers, tablets, etc every year. That just creates so much waste, when most devices can last several years! Lol I’m still using my iPad that I got back in 2013 and my iPhone from 3 years ago. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t be allowed to get a new device every year, but think about how wasteful it is if your current one is working perfectly fine and you go to buy the newest and best device
@MckenzieWright some take your old phone, but that doesn’t guarantee they use it. There could be something wrong with your old phone and they can’t use the materials, and they throw it out. Also, when they recycle, they don’t use the *entire* device. There is still a lot of waste left if it even gets recycled. But recycling is better than throwing the whole thing out
You can buy tech second hand as well! Human rights violations (read: slave labor) in manufacturing are a massive issue on top of creating waste. So 100% use what you have as long as you can, but also consider buying something used when you do need to replace things.
“Shopping second hand.” I’m the youngest of 6 girls 90% of my cloths are not originally mine. They are also much taller then me so if they shrink something it becomes mine, they may mock me for being short but I own all their favorite sweaters 😈
I always had to buy everything I have because I’ve always been the tallest of my cousins, and now 6 years later my old clothes are circling back to my little sister xp
I used to live in hand-me-downs as well until the girls giving them to us became shorter than me (one of them stopped growing at like 4'11" and the other at 5'2"). The planet loves you for your sustainability friend. ♻️🌎
I'm taking a class on sustainability and its honestly one of the most interesting classes I've taken. My hope though is that while sustainability is trendy right now, that it increases and stays to become a normal part of life.
Studying Climate Change Leadership right now. Very interesting, but frustrating the way our education system still does not have sustainability incorporated into all courses. That it is still a separate module. This is worth a watch with ideas for a changing university: media.medfarm.uu.se/play/video/9204
@@carolinacarlberg2189 Good point. I'm happy we had a lecture in my biomedical design course where the teacher challenged us with this great question: Is a physical casing of your idea truly necessary or does idea work on its own? And also: does it have to be reusable or disposable? You'd automatically think the first one, but I'd rather not have reused stitches in my body if I need them. A lot of medical stuff can't cost- and/or energy efficiently be sterilized so what do you choose to do? Fascinating stuff for biomedical product design, and honestly it's good and interesting to think about with any concept. The teacher mentioned swapfiets as an example of the idea (always having access to a properly functioning bike) being more important than the physical ownership (having your own bike). You don't own or rent bikes but are able to use them in any place with the facility.
I work in a hospital that recently made the switch to paper straws. They’re so difficult to use when passing meds to disabled/elderly patients. And the paper straw disintegrates and some patients complain that their water tastes like paper and ask for a whole new cup therefore defeating the entire purpose of a more “sustainable” straw 🙄
Courtney Lucier a local hospital has a policy of not changing linens unless asked “for environmental purposes” as they pas out the pink plastic bins with individually wrapped plastic toiletries....SMH
@@laurahill4862 the problem is, especially in a hospital, maintaining an environment that is as sterile as possible is of the highest priority. Sustainalibilty and reusing things is great, but a hospital filled with vulnerable people isn't the best place to pilot these programs.
I live in Oregon and every time I see a Tesla I think “oh a wealthy person!” 😂 I don’t associate it with environmentalism, which I now realize is funny
Tesla was always designed to be a PR piece to catalyze more sustainable practices at other car companies. That was Musk's vision. It's worked wonderfully! By making the electric vehicle a status symbol, lots of people became interested in electric vehicles that don't even care about sustainability. And now, a lot of other companies are following suit in producing electric vehicles. The Tesla isn't a perfect solution by itself, but it has definitely helped spread interest in finding more perfect solutions.
Yep. There's definitely more affordable electric cars, and for people who need to go farther distances because of their job hybrids are good too. I personally have a Nissan Leaf, which costs the same as their other cars.
My hometown is near the beach Musk is using for his rocket launching pad. Let me just say, he is no environmentalist. His goal is to leave this planet and all of us poors in the dust.
Painting my nails, waiting for the Muskian Blade Runner future, when The Rich take their robots to space and leave us on earth with nothing because they hate us. I'm sure Elon's waiting for it, too.
@@fruitygarlic3601 For real, I'm calling it, if they successfully colonize Mars watch them turn that planet into the new Earth for the bourgeois, they will leave this planet that they (CEOs, Factory owners, Oil producers) helped ruin and leave the poor to rot and exploit here.
I had no idea Tesla were destroying WHOLE LAKES OF DRINKING WATER to fuel their electric cars, that's insane. I wonder if the other electric car brands do the same level of awful stuff to fuel their cars.
They all use lithium ion batteries, as do your computer, tablet, cell phone and thousands of other products (tools, e-cigarettes, disposable batteries, etc). 75% of the world's known lithium reserves are within the lithium triangle, so if you are reading this, there's a high probability you are doing so on a device using lithium from the triangle. Everyone reading this is part of the problem, even if they don't drive a Prius, Leaf, or Tesla.
Shaw I'd argue that it's not necessarily hypocrisy. There are cases in which you really don't have any option. Say you're a college student, you're probably required to have a laptop or you can't access and submit homework, course materials, etc etc. So yes, you can recognize that the production of that laptop was shady but not have any choice but to buy one. I was talking in another comment about how you can buy tech second hand, which may be a really great option. So maybe that wasn't the best example but hopefully you get where I'm coming from. It's only hypocritical if you had an option and made a decision, and sometimes that isn't the case. I just think it's really important to encourage the efforts people put in. Saying that everyone is hypocritical feels a bit like an appeal to futility which makes people believe that no matter what they do it won't be good enough, which discourages positive change to begin with.
Other electric cars are worse (by a significant percentage). And gas vehicles are way way way way WAAAAAAAAAYYYY worse, they just use fracking, pipelines and forever wars instead of cobalt mining to be awful. I recently did a speech on EVs because, as much as I love me some EVs, I noticed that most people talked about the good side of EVs but not the down side (and that's super important to talk about in order to be an informed consumer.) There was a whole kerfuffle about lithium ion batteries and EVs recently because something like 70% of the cobalt needed for lithium ion batteries comes from the Congos which... geehhhhhh! Child soldiers, human trafficking and slavery are just part of the issues that come with sourcing cobalt from Congo mines (who is the largest producer of cobalt). It's the blood diamonds of mining. But Tesla doesn't use Congo mines, despite it probably being the cheapest and easiest to get. In fact, Tesla is leading the initiative to eliminate their (already greatly reduced) cobalt usage. To put it in perspective, Volkswagen uses 12-14% cobalt in their EV. Tesla uses 2.8%. And while I'm not thrilled about the other options in getting cobalt, it's hard to tut-tut Tesla while also using laptops, cell phones, smart-backpacks, or virtually any tech which uses cobalt, (probably from the Congo). Tesla is at least actively working on eliminating their cobalt usage, whereas my phone and laptop manufactures... aren't. So, what's worse, a product that uses child slavery from a company that has no plans to change that situation, or a product from a company that might be draining lakes... but is also actively working on ways to not need to do that (and by doing so, possibly forcing everyone else that uses cobalt to do the same). Neither are great choices, but one could very well eliminate the need to make that choice across industries. plus, it's hard to complain about the drinking water of indigenous people in South America being affected by Tesla while also filling up my gas car with fuel that came from a pipeline that's affecting the drinking water of indigenous people in North Dakota. There are no 100% ethical, green choices on anything right now. Every single product we own has to be made (likely using energy from coal, gas, or nuclear), marketed (using computers that have cobalt in it) and moved (probably using diesel trucks) from producer to store somehow. I look forward toward the day we can do all that using clean sustainable energy, and for the first time, that's a real possibility (eventually). The only company I see actively working to make that a reality though, is Tesla. They're putting out electric semis trucks and pushing battery tech and solar energy into the future. but until we get there, we're going to be stuck in a dirty energy world with dirty, capitalistic means of production in which most companies don't want to change anything.
@@diemdia yes I agree, but almost everyone I know buys a new phone tablet etc every year even though their old devices work perfectly fine. In our days, if you don't have any electronic devices such as cellphones or laptops it's practically impossible to keep up with the society etc.
What's even more stupid us the fact that most people who use the word racism are not spewing racist comments, probably quite the opposite. It seems more of a panicked attempt to make everything bad go away... She could have also been demonetized for a different reason, we never know with RU-vid.
@@matthewbarr6685 The problem with online censorship is that it's mostly pointless. It inflates people's egos by letting them believe they are some sort of hero fighting for 'freedom of speech' instead of thinking whether they may have said or done something wrong. Self-censorship is a thing in 'the real world' but allows for self-reflection because we are not surrounded by like-minded people 24/7. The internet is a great place, but curation and ad placement are making us divide more and more in groups that always think they are on the right, cutting our connection with people we otherwise would have to talk to if we had in front of us.
Always appreciate when abled people talk about how disabled people need straws and other plastics. Hospitals had this stuff because of disabled people, and it was the best and most sterile thing. One thing I wanna note though, when talking about disabled people in a video, I highly encourage people to have their videos (properly and not auto captioned - more info on my channel since this is part of my work) captioned so those of us who need captions can follow along. Other than that, thank you thank you thank you! Unfortunately, people will still go "but!" even after seeing the charts (even the other one with even more info) and it's a struggle, but I'm so happy to see more abled people talking about it.
Exactly! I find it difficult to drink through the paper/card straws and no place has any bendy straws obviously due to reducing plastic that i end up buying a drink i can't even drink properly. it's so so frustrating.
It takes hours to caption a short video so they have to pay someone. Only the bigger youtubers who make alot of money can basically afford it. They should be strongly encouraged, but don't hassle the smaller youtubers.
Plastic straws are a medical device!!! People need to stop harming disabled people for “the greater good”. We’re a vulnerable class and need the government and corporations to start actually paying attention to people with disabilities considering we’re the largest minority *and* the fact that a large amount of disabled people live below the poverty line and can’t afford some of these expensive replacements. Then there’s the whole waste side of thing; all my mediation and nutrition is delivered through IV so all those IV bags, packaging, tubing, flushes, so.much.garbage. But it’s something I need to actually live so it’s not something I can change unfortunately
Tom Jones If they are serious about their RU-vid then the captions will get them more views and therefore more subs and money. There are even lots of people ready and willing to volunteer time to caption videos. If not then maybe they can find the funds as an investment into their channel.
Thanks for pointing out the environmental injustice in the sustainable movement and using Puerto Rico as an example. Being "zero waste" after a natural disaster like a hurricane is not easy, if not impossible. After Hurricane Maria, we had no choice but to drink water from plastic water bottles since there was no water service and eat out of plastic plates and utensils. We were in no position of using what little water we had to wash dishes. To say that being "sustainable and zero waste" is easy and that "everybody can do it!" only applies to those in a privileged position.
The only thing I don't like about thredup is that they end up throwing away clothes that don't sell over time instead of giving them away or donating. I used to work at the warehouse
@Lunatic Panda i feel like that's a huge issue within the secondhand industry as a whole in the USA. My partner has never been able to find anything suitable for him, it's mostly really large sizes and not always the most attractive things.
I can no longer cut veg, peel fruit etc due to having a chronic illness, so all the ready prepared foods that are often labeled as “lazy and wasteful” are the only things I can use if I want to eat healthy. I’d love it if companies took charge in being able to make these things in a plastic free way but I often feel it’s the individual targeted rather than the company. People need to accept that the products are vital to some peolle
It also really annoys me that to be able to become fully sustainable it takes a lot of money, I’d love a grey water run off system and solar panels but I live in social housing so can’t. I could rant about this for a while
what I really dislike about the environmentalist movement is that a lot of the time they focus on buying sustainable products rather than using what you have. There are a couple facts I don't remember, but there's proof that using a cloth bag ends up creating as much waste as using like 2,000 plastic bags. Buying products, as "green" as the company is, still uses a lot of resources and if you're not going to really use it until it breaks basically, you're probably doing more harm than good. Also, I find it funny what Capitalism finds to be 'digestable' for mass consumption. My favourite are bamboo toothbrushes. Like, it's such a little piece of plastic and we waste one per like 3 months (or more). There are soooo many other things to focus on, plus many people just throw these toothbrushes into the trash, completely obliterating the ecological functionality (you're supposed to compost it). I HIGHLY recommend the channel 'Our Changing Climate'!
You’re right. About the bags, I think we need to emphasize more to use reusable bags that we already have. Pretty much everyone has a free tote bag from some event they’ve been to or mailed to them from some random non profit. Instead of buying reusable bags (or new things in general) we need to use what we already have.
On the subject of the bag study.. have you ever studied Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) which was used to calculate the results of this study? Because an important aspect of LCA is that for one it’s a relatively new method and second that it is much more than a “number” or amount to compare to. Yes, that study found that the life cycles of plastic bags (which includes production and transportation) was less than cloth, but it is still not wise to just continue using single use plastics (think trash pollution and micro plastics) compared to reusing a more stable bag. I feel like you have just been following the headlines..
True. I wash and reuse disposable plastic (and glass) water bottles because they are easier to recycle than many "fancy" (and expensive) reusable water bottles when they come to the end of their usable life. Plus, this way I am reusing what I already have.
I have an example of reusable tools for disabled people. My friend has use of one arm, so he uses those disposable floss sticks, because he just cant use the rolls of floss. I had commented this on one of shelby's anti-haul and someone suggested him to use a water pick. A water pick is a good reusable solution, but unfortunately he cannot afford one bc he can't get a job. Disabled people have a 80% unemployment rate and their disability cheques barely cover essentials, let alone healthy food, or luxuries.
Water picks also aren’t great for everyone. I would never be able to get the right water temperature for my sensitive teeth, it would stress me out and probably end up unused. Setting off my teeth can set off my migraines, which can ruin a week if they’re really bad.
Maybe the people who worry so much about disposable floss sticks should put their money where their mouth is and buy him a nice water pick! My mom uses those disposable ones, as she can't use floss either.
Yes yes yes!!!! Then there’s also things like prepackaged/precut produce and other foods that people love to hate on but for some disabled people, we can’t cut or prepare the food.
The Philippines is one of the most biodiverse countries in the world yet is also one of the most affected by climate change. In terms of waste, since a lot of families live in poverty or in less fortunate conditions, single-use sachets have become a way of life. Thank you for spreading awareness to this issue. Unless the country can rise up from poverty and improve its citizens living conditions, sustainability is a privilege available to a minority.
similar condition with indonesia. i'd say "hey neighbour" but me geographical skill is so low it's actually laying down and gradually sink into the centre of the earth.
THANK YOU FOR TALKING ABOUT COLONIALISM. That feel when everybody praises Canada for their environmental politics, but you're in Mexico where canadian mines are fracking the hell out of your country.
another thing is how the vast majority of sustainability advocates are women and men hardly seem to be interested. figuring out less wasteful ways of shopping, cleaning etc is just another extension of the good old unpaid housework women are expected to do. and analogically to the idea that women should be small so as not to take up space now it's women who are supposed to reduce their environmental impact through all these eco-friendly swaps etc while men just go about their daily lives? seems fishy to me
There is an argument that has been made around women caring about the planet more than men, because men are the ones who made policies like colonisation, exploitation (well domination) of people through labour and of nature through exploitation a “manly” thing. Sure there are men who care about animal rights, the environnement and other issues associated, but the main reason why we are in this mess (socially, economically and environmentally) is because a bunch of white men wanted to be as powerful («masculine ») as possible by implementing capitalist policies. If you are interested about that topic you can check eco-feminist movements, they do a great job analysing this narrative. (Sorry if I made mistakes, English is not my first language ^^)
this seems to imply that men are forcing women to advocate sustainability while they themselves do nothing. this is not the case. women do this of their own volition. If you want to "go about your daily life" like the men get to do, then just do it. Or are you trying to make the point that women have been conditioned by the patriarchy to live more sustainably?
@@SofiaYasmin I feel like you conflate this mysterious group identity of "men" with individual males. No male is thinking to himself, "ya know, i implemented colonization and capitalism and those are pretty rad. environmentalism doesn't jive with those, so fuck the planet!" The choice to live sustainably is an individual one, and everyone has their own reasons to do so or not, and i just seriously doubt anyone chooses not to because of capitalism, manliness, and because their dad's dad's dad's dad had a hand in colonization. Also, what about all the socialist and communist countries out there that pollute just as bad if not worse than capitalist ones? China pollutes also twice as much as the US does. you're making some very bold claims based on very vague ideas.
Aaaronicus hi just had to pop in! Not tryna argue or add to this convo just wanted to point out that of course China pollutes more than us. They have a population of 1.3 BILLION! Thats so much. The population of the US however, is only 330 million roughly. My env professor pointed out that if every Chinese citizen consumed as much as the avg US citizen, then basically we’d have been fucked a long time ago, wed have so many holes in our stratosphere, the ice caps would have been gone, and other hyperbolic events etc. u get my point.
the elitism that come along with sustainability pisses me off to no end. this mentality of "well dont be so frivolous and lazy buying the cheap option, whats 100 extra dollars for this plain white tee?" Like, for some people (me) the "cheap" option is the only option. I'm not out here buying 12 forever 21 dresses, wearing them once and throwing them in the back of my closet never to be seen again. If i'm buying a pair of jeans its because i've worn a hole though my other pair and i need to replace one of my 2 pairs of jeans. Also, i know thrifting is supposedly a miracle cure, sustainable AND cheap but i've never found anything in a thrift shop that fits me. i've got an massively oversized shirt here and there but theres no way i can squeeze into most of that stuff
I've also noticed that the "trendy" thrift shops are in richer, whiter towns. Like, of COURSE it's easy for people there to be sustainable and thrift, but it's not so attractive to do so when you don't have easy access to those places. And then there are people saying that if that's your situation then you just have to be more creative with the clothing that are in the thrift stores near you to make them look good, but I don't think that it should be the burden of marginalized communities to do that. Personally, I've also been shamed for shopping at fast fashion places by people who live in rich towns and have really easy access to sustainable clothing shops and can afford to pay $70 for a single piece of clothing, but I can't do that and their disdain frustrates me to no end.
Adriana Farias THIS! and also some low income families are dependent on thrift stores for cheap clothes but since thrifting was picked up by higher income people the clothes have become more expensive for some people which has denied them access
im literally like 37 seconds into the video and im already like foaming at the mouth with excitement that someone is finally gonna address how little regard all the trendy environmental activism posts/main discussion points have for disabled, mentally ill and poor people
My reusable water bottle: $4 Reusable cloth produce bags: $0.99 each Glass jars: Used pasta sauce jars I saved so much money just having those 3 cheap items
You buy those cloth produce bags at a small local store or would I, living in a moderately sized city, be able to find them in a chain store somewhere? I've never come across cloth bags in person but maybe I'm just not going to the right places. I do live in a fairly Republican seeming area though so environmentalism isnt too readily apparent
10:00 "... Being frugal is honestly probably one of the easiest way to be more sustainable." Favorite thing I ever heard you say!!!!!! That is how I do both things! If I'm craving junk food sitting at home I'm like, "it's bad for my body, it's bad for my wallet, and driving to the store is bad for the environment. No junk for me." I live by this principle as much as possible.
I’m all for saving the environment and being eco friendly, but there really isn’t much for the common person (or whatever you call us) to do. It’s really the huge corporations that need to stop all of the burning of fossil fuels and other activities that harm the environment so much! Regular people making a difference is good, but that difference is nothing compared to what corporations can do to help
I agree that our individual choices seem so small when it's compared to the pollution that big companies produce but there is something you can do that makes a big difference, protest. If you're in school then the Fridays for Future Movement or even better Extinction Rebellion, which is nonviolent civil disobedience. That's the biggest difference the 'common person' can make.
this is ass backwards. these companies only produce products because WE buy them. supply and demand. if more individuals stopped buying harmful products they would be produced less.
@@vir3098 I disagree. Free markets are encouraged by governments, not necessarily consumers. Especially when you consider nations in massive amounts of debts where the consumer has less of a personal choice. We still have an ethical responsibility to the planet, but truly without dismantling capitalism, we can not as individuals, make an impact like that. Even the "sustainable" items we buy have unsustainable, and unethical practices behind them (ie transportation of organic fruits).
To contact your local politician is something most "common people" can do to make a difference. I'd also recommend the app WeDon'tHaveTime as a place to come together and have an impact
@@vir3098 I think there are better ways to discuss this situation without accidentally framing it as so much of an individualistic problem. Massive corporations and their CEOs are depleting resources at an increased rate because they KNOW they can get away with it. It's important that we acknowledge the actual rate at which these corporations are controlling the narrative in order to protect their profits by blaming average individuals for the needless harm they are doing to this earth. There is proven evidence that 100 companies are almost entirely responsible for creating, covering up, and perpetuating climate change over time. They also currently have significant influence over governments to continue to get away with it because we live under a system which favours wealthy voices over those struggling most (see for example: Canadian Liberal government under Justin Trudeau building pipelines and pretending that that isn't an issue, as if they aren't in the pocket of the fossil fuel industry..) With the stronghold of non-progressive governments working alongside many of these wealthy CEOs, policies such as tax-cuts for the rich, low wages for workers, etc. create larger gaps toward wealth inequality, increasing the amount of people who live under the poverty line. As poor and impoverished people struggle to take care of themselves with the limited resources they have access to, they rely upon the easiest, cheapest, and fastest products they can get, which are almost always unsustainable. We don't get to choose how these companies produce because we have no means over production, so we end up with a lot less influence over their practices as they want us to believe. When you look at these issues in a larger way, you can easily find the root of these problems stemming toward a common theme (capitalism). Corporations' goals aren't to provide us with the things we need, but to increase profit by any means. They can effectually influence and cultivate the livelihoods of those who do not have significant wealth, and they therefore control our choices and access to the things we consume. These multi-billionaires get away with exploiting both humans and the planet, while convincing us that we are to blame, as if it is "simply human nature" to destroy everything entirely and not a result of capitalism run amok. Political activism, progressive policy, and political revolution -- to tackle inequality along with these massive conglomerates, and return power to the people -- should be our our main effort in moving toward a better future and surviving the impact of climate change. As far as things stand, that is our only hope.
As someone with Cerebral Palsy, thanks for touching on how important it is that environmentalist movements include disabled people! I wish that there was a non-plastic straw alternative that could work for disabled folks...
I took a class called "Waste & Justice" last year in college and it genuinely changed my life. Every lecture focused on different artists/designers/activists in different spheres, from a painter making a book on copper mining in Arizona (similar situation to the Lithium story you mentioned; we need obscene amounts of copper for solar panels) to a woman from Newark, NJ who protested against the waste treatment facility which basically only processes waste from NYC. Each lecture was a different reminder on how so many systems in our society are unjust and affect more people than you initially think is possible. I'm in industrial design, and the whole "this is sustainable because it's bamboo and not plastic :)" mentality is rampant, and it only puts more garbage out into the world. Greenwashing is REAL, and it's a great way to shield the public from true injustices. I really love these videos you're doing because consciousness of the issues (and the ROOTS of those issues) is the only way any action can ever be done. These discussions are so important!! Love this discourse and LOVE YOU FOR BRINGING IT UP!!!!
I own a small Etsy shop where I make upcycled plastic bag totes and homemade herbal remedies that come in sustainable packaging. As I've been entering this industry of "zero waste" business I've realized quickly that many of the top zero waste influencers are extremely judgmental towards those who don't have the means or access to sustainable products. I'm so happy you made this video because I was beginning to think I was the only one who was noticing this. I live in an area near an extremely poor city and I know there is no way most people in that city could ever have the means to live "sustainably" - Our economy is pretty rough here so there are no farmers markets or bulk food stores or anything. Zero waste influencers forget these kind of places even exist because so many of them grew up in privileged environments where sustainable options exist. Aside from all of this I also notice these zero waste influencers solely focus on plastic rather than any other means of sustainable living. I find this kind of annoying because plastic waste isn't the only sustainability issue out there. They pitch this idea that if you own anything that is reusable and plastic, you need to throw it out and get a new stainless steel version because plastic is harmful to the environment. This is obviously problematic and unsustainable for a number of reasons. They focus on the aesthetic of having reusable bamboo, stainless steel, glass jar everything and that's not what sustainability is always about. Ugh. Okay. Rant over. Long story short I completely agree and it feels like a weight off my shoulders that somebody with a large platform unrelated to sustainability is finally broadcasting this topic to the public.
in the last year i've really learnt how much indigenous communities are linked to sustainability, 1. they have been fighting these interlocking problems (colonialism/capitalism/environmentalism) for CENTURIES. 2. the way white people are affected is nothing compared to how indigenous communities are affected my friend also did a podcast about traditional aboriginal burnings in australia and how the way they treated the land is way more sustainable than how our government manages the land, but to this day the government does not allow any non-government burnings or really let aboriginal people have their say in land management...
For those looking for more information on the straw thing, Jessica Kellgren-Fozard has a couple of very informative and entertaining videos on why some people with disabilities need plastic straws. Definitely recommend!
I also recommend checking out videos like this by Annie Elainey! Another great disabled perspective! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-uRy_0IEwxMw.html
tiffany, i'm not sure if i've ever left a comment on your videos before, but i just wanted to say i absolutely love your internet analysis videos. i can tell how much effort you put into these vids and you always raise really interest points that i haven't considered before. i've been following you for probably 9 years or so now, which is crazy! it's been wonderful to see your channel grow so much and the success that you've been having :~)
According to that test, if everyone lived like me there would be no Earth Overshoot day. Being poor and therefore not being able to create waste has a bright side I guess.
This is actually an important aspect of sustainability/climate change. People who are wealthier have a MUCH larger ecological impact than those who are not. They can buy more, use more resources, etc etc.
I'd like to point out something about clothing and ableism in this topic. My mom has a skin-disease that has made her skin horribly sensitive. A lot of natural fiber clothing causes this disease to flare up and she'll get breakouts, and that's only if she isn't allergic to it, if she is then you know, all he*l breaks loose on her body. She unfortunately has to wear synthetic material clothing and it has to be washed often (increased water usage) because of these issues but according to the current movement, what she wears is frowned upon and she is judged because of it. She doesn't have a choice.
In my experience most non-sociopaths in the climate movement are accepting of people who can’t live ecologically b/c of their situation. To quote a a German Fridays for Future activist: “The climate crisis wasn’t caused by the grandma who drives to the supermarket because she can’t walk.”
@craisins 86 Just because something hasn't happened to you doesn't mean it hasn't happened to somebody else. Minimizing OPs experience and saying it's not a "really serious subject" is just shitty and weird. This video is about intersectional environmentalism, and so is the OPs comment. It's on topic.
my roommates actually got in a heated discussion over whether one roommate should keep using her paper plates and individually packed snacks. the other turned to me (environmental science major w a sustainability minor) and kind of asked me to back her up, but I just said "it really is everyone's personal choice on how sustainable they want to be and while i think its hella easy to just wash some plates when im done with a meal, she may find it really taxing. so thats why she does it" i think tiffany's point of us trying to further our own sustainability without shaming others is really what everyone should take away from this vid
@@WinterWind you don't know if she's cooking the meals or just buying take out or heating up frozen dishes, stop judging people based on what they do or don't find physically taxing
@@elchupacabra9695 well forgive me if she isn't able to but I wouldn't think the discussion would be happening if she was unable as the roommates would have more of an understand of her capabilities. If she's perfectly capable but chooses not to that's laziness. You see it all the time on food prep videos here on RU-vid, perfectly capable people using paper plates because they're lazy. There may be a group that require doing things differently but a lot of people do things for convenience and not much else, e.g ubereats or online shopping.
Look up spoon theory; if she has any condition or even if she doesn’t if the choice is eating but using a paper plate vs. not eating then I’m going to say she has the right to eat. Further if she does the cooking maybe she can make a deal with someone of I’ll cook if you wash the dishes. Hell if her ecological roommate cares that much they could wash her dishes for her that way she doesn’t have to use paper but that solution does require personal sacrifice on the part of the roommate
@@emilyvelasquez6718 sure if that's the case then go ahead and offer help. I feel like in a vast majority of cases though there's absolutely no reason why someone would need to create needless trash which is likely the point the roommate was making if she brought it up in this situation to begin with (having a personal knowledge of the other girl). I feel like most people would think the same about littering, you wouldn't just accept that someone needs to drop their used food wrapper on the ground in a park when they're done with it.
As a tetraplegic I will never be plastic/waste free; there's so much plastic involved in my daily life just medical wise, but I am trying wherever possible to consume less & be more conscious when making purchases & searching for sustainable choices. I use silicone straws now (which easily bend) instead of single use plastic bendy straws, there's probably others out there. They're really easy to drink from if lying down etc. Paper straws don't work - especially in hot drinks. Love your Internet Analysis series 😊😊
it’s really hard to talk about sustainability in a world that literally was built on top of oil and coal as a means to further the advancement of humans. like even if you consider meat consumption (just cow burps) you have to consider the transportation, the storage and electricity to process the meat and everything that goes into making the meat. until we figure out a way to fully get off oil and coal we won’t be fully sustainable. and until will (DemOliSh CapitalisM) we really wont get to a place to value human lives over profit
Or if you talk about veganism, you should talk about how that wrecks the soil (cows build it up), and how it uses so much water and chemicals (cows eat grass that is watered for free), and how so much vegetables rot and get thrown away (meat is so expensive it all gets eaten). And how vegans get so ill and need so many wasteful medical treatments and pills for various aliments (that they claim is normal but isn't) that end up poisoning the water and cost more to the environment.
Okay this is really random but I've seen this trend online for a while now of people randomly capitalizing letters within words and it doesn't make any sense. Why did you write the words "Demolish Capitalism" as "DemOliSh CapitalisM)? I'm not trying to be mean or anything.I'm just genuinely curious what the purpose off all this erratic spelling and is about. :P
@Mystery No vegan can function without b12 supplements unless they eventually want to become ill. That is a fact. Meat industry is more sustainable than agriculture if done the right way. What people should strive for regardless of whether they eat meat or not, is buying locally and in season. If you're a vegan eating tropical fruit while living in Poland, your carbon footprint would be ridiculously high. If you're a carnivore eating eggs from caged hens and mass factory farmed meat, you're probably an asshole (unless you're doing it for health reason and can't afford anything else. I won't judge since meat is the only thing that's not an allergen to anyone). Basically, it's more about how and where your food was produced.
I'm a 5th-year architecture student and sustainable design is a focus of mine. It is absolutely essential to creating green buildings whether that be a high rise office building or a low-income housing project. It is so true that race plays a major role in the way buildings have been constructed. I really hope to make a difference with the architecture I create projects for users who weren't accessible to these things before. The industrial revolution really screwed the planet (and us) and especially in the architecture field it's our responsibility to educate people on the positive effects buildings can have on the climate.
I’m halfway through your video so you might mention this later on, but I wanted to mention something very important. There are climate coalitions that are trying to shift the emphasis away from individual action and more towards changing the infrastructure so that people have no choice but to make the more sustainable decision. For example, increasing access to public transportation, and making it the default instead of a car. Lobbying electric companies to make electric less expensive to power your home, etc. This is very important as well
I really wanted to see your take in this. People get very touchy very quickly about reducing waste or making waste. Judging individuals who need or use the slightest bit more resources who are mentally, financially, or physically handicapped while dealing with the shitty card that society tends to deal them is not a classy move. I have worked in occupational therapy and if I can get someone to make themselves a meal, but they can't lift up a heavy plate and don't have enough energy to keep alternatives clean you can bet I will tell them to buy themselves a huge ass pack of paper plates. The very idea of bringing down people's personal independence to feed, bathe and dress themselves to serve the idea that everyone needs to do there part to be green makes me ready to throw some hands.
I like to think that theres always something. Even if its something as small as using ecosia as a search engine instead of google. Even if its something as small as refilling a plastic water bottle, to get on emore use of it before its thrown away. We dont need everyone doing absolutely everything to be sustainable, we need 8 biliom people doing what they can, with their situation. It isnt about "all or nothing", its about doing even the smallest things, that will still have positife impact.
THANK YOU Tiffany for addressing ableism in sustainability and environmental movements! I don’t see nearly enough people talking about that. Something that really, really bothers me is suggestions that we should ban cars altogether. I have severe M.E. and I rely on cars to take me any significant distance that I can’t travel in my powerchair. I can’t manage travel via public transport for multiple reasons so the talk of banning private vehicles literally terrifies me. I really, really hope the people calling the shots take into account the impact on EVERYONE affected before making any major decisions.
I also have severe ME, and if I don't have a way to lay down or recline while traveling, I go nowhere. Public transportation in my city is great and was fine when I was healthy, but completely not an option for me now. Oh man, the lights and sounds and smells on the bus too...yeah, I feel you.
I slept through my first class today, failed my first test on university, twisted my ankle during karate practice... You literally saved my day today with this video (well you and random dude dressed as Deapool I've seen on my way home). Thank you for putting a smile on my face : )
I'm in occupational therapy school and a huge part of OT is working with adaptive equipment that often is seen as "wasteful" but is extremely useful and even life changing for people. Thank you for bringing this up because the hippie in me wants to cut out wasteful products but the OT in me sees so many uses for plastic products on the market.
thanks for speaking about this Tiffany ♥ as a disabled person, we don't get a lot of environmentalists fighting our corner, and it's easy to feel pushed aside and drowned out in the sea of environmentalism today. another example of ablesim in the environmentalist movement is people making jokes like 'lol if you drive a car to attend a climate change strike you shouldn't be there in the first place'. like obviously me and other disabled people cannot get somewhere without driving. really sad people can't realize this. anyways, love you!
Good video and last message! People kinda get irritated when they see I print a lot of my uni articles etc. But I have severe dyslexia and this really is the way that makes my life much easier.
Yep and they probably drove a car to uni instead of biking, walking or public transport, which takes up 100x more energy than a few bits of paper. (Transport is the biggest energy hogger).
in my town there is low income housing on an abandoned navy base in broken down homes. literally the ground is toxic because of all the chemicals from the once functioning navy. it’s insane how our society treats people especially the most vulnerable.
"Apparently we can't say certain words on this platform anymore, love that! 🤘" 😂😂😂 yup and even people using those words in the comments might trigger the alg0rithm to dem0net!ze I KID YOU NOT
Don’t worry about over-consuming from thrift stores if money isn’t an issue, as long as you plan on giving it back to a thrift store. You’re just putting money into the industry. _However,_ something to keep in mind is that a lot of thrift stores are associated with charities and some of them are religious (Salvation Army comes to mind), which I personally don’t trust at all and worry that the money could be going toward some kind of missionary work. It at least deserves some thought (Edit: and possibly research) from anyone who considers buying from them.
exactly my thoughts. I used to buy from a thrift store in my city but after looking at "the charity" associated with it, I did some research and oh boy...things are not pretty at all
The ASMR Queen I believe that organized religion is inherently bad for society. I won’t discriminate against Christian people because I consider them victims of a system designed to take advantage of vulnerable people, and I think the best way to free society from the plague that is organized religion is to allow it to work itself out and to give people he resources and education they need to escape religion, and I don’t believe people can control their beliefs, so I’m totally for freedom of religion and against religious persecution. But I do believe that the spread of religion is a net bad for all of society in the interest of human well-being and there is no reason I can’t believe that or that anyone has any reasonable excuse to be offended by it except for an emotional reaction to a false, perceived slight against them as people. If you’re religious I don’t care, but I think the long-term goal of a civilized society (long-term in the sense of potentially hundreds of years) should be to phase out religion completely.
sourgreendolly The ASMR Queen The problem with religious _charities_ is that they claim they’re just out to help people but nine times out of ten there is a hidden mission to convert the vulnerable people they’re “helping”. And since religion is bad for people, this is predatory and harmful. All “charity” really means for religious organizations, legally, is that they’re using the money to push an agenda, and they don’t have to pay taxes.
I have issues with drinking out of cups and use straws to drink, so thank you for mentioning that. I use reusable silicone straws, 100 times better than metal ones. Softer like plastic but can be reused thousands of times. I really can't believe people don't use silicone straws more often, they're the best.
this video reminded me of a great video that really helped me understand why banning plastic straws completely isn't a great idea right now. the video is called "banning straws hurts people" by jessica kellgren-fozard. i'm not sure if you talked about this since i haven't gotten through the whole video, but this video really put the current need for plastic straws for some disabled people in perspective for me as an able bodied person. i would highly recommend it to everyone. i bring this up since banning plastic straws is a hot topic right now, and while i think it's a good idea to stop using them if you can, it's not always possible and completely banning them would affect a lot of people who need them. also, i don't think the push for straws that aren't plastic isn't necessarily good either. i got into zero waste a few years ago, and everyone that i watched on youtube had them. it was only after i got some bamboo straws that i realized that i never use straws unless a restaurant gives them to me. some things that are promoted by people are unnecessary, or at least they are for me.
Sustainability is all about making sure things last so that we don't have to re-purchase things! It's not about having a closet full of thrifted clothing, or having extra reusables. It's about using up what you have or going without.
girl you have no idea how much these videos mean to me! finding someone who breaks down all the shit i always focus on is so exciting and so appreciated!!
Girl! Love the fact you brought up disabled people! There’s a couple aspects with environmentalism that really just don’t work with living with a disability. Obviously 1) plastic straws are actually need for PwD 2) high high high levels of poverty and unemployment mean many of us can’t afford these more sustainable options or the items we can afford are not sustainable , 3) there are people out there like me who can’t eat/digest so I get all my nutrition and medication through a permanent IV line. My city is going to be charging for every additional garbage bag they collect (1 is free, more is $$). All my supplies are plastic, wrapped in plastic packaging to keep it sterile, and *most* aren’t able to be recycled, if any. Some cities do have a medical supply recycling program but most don’t so the used supplies end up in the landfill. 4) I’ve seen a lot of criticism for prepackaged foods/precut produce but for many disabled people that’s the only feasible way to eat certain foods because they can’t actually wash and prepare the food themselves. 5) lastly (I promise I won’t ramble on anymore lol) is just plain ol lack of accessibility in general. For example, if you have a reusable silicone straw you use when you go to starbs, you need to be able to wash that straw. If the bathroom isn’t accessible, it’s not possible. If you have mobility issues, it’s not possible. Even a lot of stores that tend to sell more sustainable products (tend to be boutique type stores around me), aren’t wheelchair accessible so we can’t even get into the store to buy these items. Another problem for example is public transit. We can reduce our footprint by using public transport but most of that transportation isn’t accessible. Nothing is accessible and it’s really heartbreaking and an isolating experience to be out somewhere and not be able to even enter wherever you’re going because of lack of ramps, automatic doors, wheelchair buttons, accessible washrooms, etc. In conclusion to this super long comment, it’s hard to live as a disabled person in general but living sustainably as a disabled person can be near impossible for some. Why is this a big deal? Because society is putting so much pressure on us to make changes and be more sustainable (which I don’t disagree with!!!) but people with disabilities are most often left out of the conversation and disregarded completely when things like straw bans are put in place. Yes, we need to save our planet but not at the cost of disabled peoples lives. The systems also need to change to *allow* people with disabilities to live more sustainably like medical supply recycling or mobility equipment loans/buy back programs, etc. that can allow us to make a change without negatively impacting our quality of life. Okay sorry i like to talk and love your vids ❤️. I have a blog where I talk about disability and social issues frequently so hit me up if you’re interested in some further reading ☺️
Weird flex but my cousin is an environmental scientist in Texas and she got plastic bags banned where she lives and she would get legit death threats sent to her because of it
I do want to point out that many Indigenous reserves in Northern Alberta are pro-pipeline. Fort Mckay Metis Reservation signed a 503 million dollar deal with Syncrude to let them extract resources from their land in 2017. We need to remember that indigenous peoples are diverse themselves and their opinions differ within their community. Also can we shout out the Rockefeller family for funding Indigenous environmental movements just so they can maintain a monopoly over oil in the US
@@raapyna8544 in some cases, possibly. (Which is why FNMI peoples kept the Indian Act after the White Paper was proposed.) But in cases like Fort Mckay, oil and gas employs the majority of the populstion and many smaller gas and coal companies are owned by First Nations individuals. They key is consent and active consultation.
THANK YOU SO MUCH! GOSH I am sick of people with disabilities being left out of these conversations. We face so much ableism on a daily basis, it's absolutely wonderful to hear someone call it out like this because so often does it feel like you're yelling down a void.
I’m so happy you mentioned Puerto Rico, it feels like Puerto Ricans are constantly forgotten about and it’s nice that you’re spreading light on the fact that PR isn’t fully recovered.
I continously mention to friends and family about the issue of plastic straws and how not having access to a sustainable alternative to straws can really degrade somones quality of life if we ban single use
Thank you for this, it’s bloody important. Firstly, I’m a disabled person who required plastic straws sometimes. There is no sustainable equivalent that meets my needs as of yet (can handle all temps, can bend to 180* while still allowing liquid through, is easy for my carer to clean - because I sure can’t do it, and isn’t too hard so I don’t get cut- metal straws can hurt). But I’ve had so many “environmentalists” tell me I’m being unsustainable and destroying the world with my plastic straws. I want to note that I didn’t see any of these Johnny and Janie come lately’s at mining protests fifteen years ago... and as a disabled person, my footprint is likely a lot smaller than theirs. I don’t buy much, I don’t drive, my carer doesn’t drive, and we’re a mostly vegan household (we’d be completely vegan if it weren’t so damn expensive!) And in regard to Indigenous issues- this news article is about the fears of local Indigenous people losing their 40,000 year old culture thanks to climate change and wage mismanagement. www.sbs.com.au/news/indigenous-community-say-they-ve-lost-their-culture-to-water-mismanagement This used to be a pretty green part of Australia. And even though we are suffering a record breaking drought through all of the eastern states of the country, our government refuses to do anything except sell the water needed to keep rivers running to massive corporations for pennies on the dollar. Oh, and approve more massive coal mines and more coal fire power plants. Australia is suffering from extreme water mismanagement (which comes with the corruption), climate change and massive land clearing- we clear more trees than Brazil! And that means we’ve created dust bowls. Add that to climate change induced drought, and you have a disaster of epic proportions. Our food prices are going through the roof, as we import more and more of our food- droughts don’t exactly lend themselves to wonderful food production. So even in a rich country, we’re already suffering. And the Indigenous Australians are suffering the most- they can’t hunt traditionally because all the native animals are dying, they can’t fish or catch yabbies (small freshwater lobster type things), and because Indigenous people are the most likely to be impoverished, being unable to catch their own food means that they’re going hungry due to being unable to afford our incredibly high food prices. I was proud though, to see that during the climate strike, that Indigenous people with Indigenous flags and banners led the protests. That was one very good thing that I saw.
I like to come back and watch really good videos, so here I am, commenting again over a year later. But I think the plastic straw issue is a fantastic example of how people are pushed to make individual choices, and in a way to get them off the back of big business. If we’re making this big ruckus about plastic straws (which make up 0.002% of the plastic ocean waste), then people aren’t talking about discarded fishing waste from commercial fishing companies. That fishing waste is 60% of plastic ocean waste. So while people are fighting (and hurting disabled people) over straws, they’re doing less than nothing about the real problem. And I think this is an example of the problem on a smaller scale. People are encouraged to make individual changes to try to lower our carbon footprint, and that’s fine, but only so long as we aren’t exhausting ourselves with that, so that we no longer have the energy to go after big business and government- which is where most of our energy should be directed. And big business definitely jumps on the individual choices train. How many large companies have you seen saying they’ll no longer sell plastic straws? They do this because the focus on individual choices takes focus away from what they are doing. It’s sneaky as hell! Turns out, some of those ocean cleanup “charities” are funded by commercial fisheries. And they like to talk a lot about single use plastics.... and never about commercial fishing waste. Which not only makes up more of the waste, but is a lot more dangerous to sea life. Discarded fishing nets (46% of the waste alone) kill so many marine animals- far more than all single use plastics put together. And yet, those ocean cleanup charities won’t talk about commercial fishing at all. Their entire reason for being is to direct focus away from the real problem. And yet- I still get abused for using the plastic straws I need. It’s diabolical. And it also shows how much many people just don’t consider disabled people to be full human beings. If we aren’t inspiring them, we’re useless. It just makes me so angry, as someone who actually does really care about the environment. These numbers I’ve used, I’ve known for a couple years now, but they also show up in the recent doco SeaSpiracy. (Side note: they really dropped the ball on the pun game there, should have called it ConspiraSea). And the doco also has a look at those commercial fishery funded “charities”. It’s very depressing though.
Was telling everyone yesterday, the only kind of car I'll ever drive is a Tesla because I thought it was environmentally sustainable. Oops I guess not.
Tesla's aren't all that bad. I fyou actually look at the batteries, yes they contain precious metals that are hard to find and recycle however... Tesla have a used battery scrappage scheme where they use the old batteries from their cars and reuse them as house batteries as these don't need nearly as much capacity. Also the batteries can last in a car nearly a decade (don't quote me I can't quite remember!). And the way I see it, electric cars are very very close to being sustainable, combustion engines will never be. Also regarding supernova's comment: if you're going to buy a combustion engine car, but petrol, diesel is way more harmful because of all the particulates!
Bio gass for a gass engine might be an option if your municipality collects bio-waste. My town has plenty of it available and it's affordable to convert a petrol car into a gass-petrol hybrid that is able to run on either. (While we don't have many gass cars on the roads at the moment)
Yesterday I counted all my clothes 7 black shirts, 7 assorted colours, 2 jeans 3 sweatpants, 2 skirts, 2 dresses, and 4 sweaters. I was pretty impressed. So random is was counting clothes but I was watching closet purge videos and was amazed at how many clothes a lot of people have. It’s bothers me so much when ppl say to cut down on cut down on straws when they barely amount to so little waste and a lot of disabled people need them. Not all can used wooded, metal, glass, straws it can end up harming them. We need to focus on bigger things. RU-vidr Jessica Kellgren-haynes idk if I’m spelling her last name right) who talks about how her and other disabled people need bendable plastic straws has gotten death threats and told disabled ppl should just all die off.
My 2 sons have autism. My eldest's sensory and spacial aware issues means he has to have baths instead of showers. Showers use significantly less water than a bath. This year we had another server climate change drought, which lead to strict water restrictions, and then in this our countries biggest bush fire happened in our district further depleting the little water left in the dams. We would get so angry when people would waste water on their lawns inspite of the restrictions and dangerously low water level dams. We did everything we could to restrict our water, but many didn't. Families with special needs sometimes need others to give up a little extra at times cause we can't in all areas no matter how much we want to.
I get almost everything from Goodwill! I haven't bought new clothes (besides bras and underwear) in at least a year and I always get compliments on my thrifted outfits :) I spend maybe $20 a month on clothes, if that, and I'm saving so much money and able to afford brand names and high quality clothes that are gently used or sometimes brand new but donated. I know Goodwill has its issues but it is my entire apartment and wardrobe and still helps reduce my footprint
I took a course in college called “paper or plastics” it was an environmental science class and the ENTIRE point was showing how much larger of a carbon footprint paper bags have than plastics. If we’re talking emissions, paper suckssss. Deforestation, manufacturing, transportation, rate of reuse...there’s so many more issues than the product itself.
Around the 9-10 minute mark talking about the low income household public, THANK YOU. Seeing people just buy from these expensive brands that brand themselves as being sustainable when majority of us already do our best to be sustainable by living frugal, majority of the time it's not by choice. Tbh now that I think about it, a lot of the sustainability movement is directed towards people who are middle class and higher, because they have more financial leniency & tons of people don't know what to do besides buy, buy, buy.
i always love your videos, and have been subbed for a while, And as a native woman I was so appreciative that you brought included the importance of indigenous voices in this video!
I looked up and found the actual study that talks about the 71% number I keep seeing people use, and it actually says that 71% of emissions come from 100 companies INCLUDING what, "were subsequently used by their consumers." Meaning we are part of that 71%. The study only mentions consumers being part of the 71% once, and media obviously left that part out because they want clicks, so I can understand how people don't know and keep spreading the false information. However, it kind of stresses me out that the study only mentions once that subsequent consumers were counted, so I'm not sure how reputable the study actually is.
I think that what we should focus on is more about what kind of alternatives are these companies offering (the use of plastic for exemple helps fast food restaurants to limit the amount of work needed to wash the dishes + people can take away their own food, so it’s really not about the consumer’s comfort but the company’s profit) and unfortunately there aren’t enough affordable alternatives. I still support boycotts and individual changes when they are possible, but they won’t change the system.
Those 100 are oil and coal companies that create the most of fossil fuels for individuals, governments etc to use. It's production-based counting. Another way to count is consumption-based counting: how much a country, individual, company or government buys and uses. I think different countries should focus on different stanspoints based on their role in the global market. Countries that consume more fossil fuels than produce them, should focus on reducing their consumption of fossil fuels. While the countries producing more fossil fuels than they use, should reduce their fossil fuel production. This means both should invest in renewable and local energy, energy-efficiency and perhaps being more independent in their energy supply.
Thanks for talking about this! It’s harder for a lot of us to adhere to these new suggestions. Those of us who are trans are much more likely to be homeless, unable to find a place that will hire us, etc. Those of us who are also disabled, on top of that, struggle even more. I wish feminist spaces made a bigger effort to bring awareness to obstacles that people of all marginalized genders (trans & GNC) face, and not just trans & cis women
i love that you included the Indigenous aspects of sustainability!! I am Indigenous and our role in sustainability is way too often ignored. I mean we are the people that cared for the land that everyone is living on for thousands and thousands of years, without Indigenous stewards of the land no one would be living in NA anyway! Another thing to look into with Indigenous knowledge is subsistence!! How we can hunt and harvest from the land we live on! Obviously if possible. I am from Alaska so i live in a very abundant place to subsist. Another thing that goes unnoticed is lower income people and families. Those that are "leading" the waste free and sustainable movement (i.e. upper middle class folks) actually take ideas from poor people. Because poor people cannot afford to buy fancy schmancy glass tupperware we often reuse food containers, like sour cream tubs. We also save shopping bags if paper or reusable bags cost too much. (just a couple examples) So i do think it is unfair to say that you MUST be middle class to participate in the zero waste movement, because many lower income folks are already living like that and not by choice. Lower income and poor folks can't afford to be wasteful. anyways just adding my two cents! i love your videos, you are so organized and inclusive i love it!!!! thank you so much for doing this (and so many other topics) justice!
I bought a plastic foot scrubber that has suction cups and you stick it to the floor of your shower so you can wash your feet. So many people were saying how lazy the product is, but it was so helpful for me when I couldn’t stand on one foot at a time due to arthritis. Why do people love to rain on other peoples parades for no reason?
this comment section makes me want to cry.. climate change is so big and overwhelming and there's only so much a person can do.. I really pray to the Gods we figure this out
Thank you so much for this, Tiffany! I was so ready to be upset at this video because of all the hate I’ve gotten as a disabled person defending plastic disposable straws (ex. Being told my life isn’t worth “wasting” plastic and “destroying marshlands”). It gets real nasty on the internet. And it hurts because ever since I was a kid I did things to help the environment and animals because in my heart I truly care. But this modern-day environmentalism just feels so alienating to me as I use so much plastic with my straws, pill bottles, plastic from Amazon boxes that I get because I can’t get myself to a store, pre-cut food in plastic containers (not just for lazy people!), my ear plugs (sound sensitivity problems) that I need to replace every few months, and much more. I realize I take up more resources and space on this planet and I’d rather be small and live in the forest only eating fruit. But the latter isn’t reality. As a disabled person I know I am not a burden, I just wish people took the time to research like you did. I learned so much from your topics here and it makes me want to research more about each. I really appreciate how not only classy you are, but also so kind. Much love. 🌸
Loved the insight! The only thing that doesn't fit right with me is when you said "every reusable water bottle will do". As you mentioned, capitalism is trying to work its way into environmentalism, and, again, exploiting minorities and poor countries into making "affordable" and cheap water bottles. Not every reusable water bottle is fine. Water bottles which don't require excess use of Water, which are co2 neutral and which aren't made in unsafe and underpaid conditions are the ones which are really sustainable. Of course if you have one at home use that (as you said), but if you have to buy, you gotta look at much more than the greenwashing
I appreciate a lot that you mention that for the "global north" sees climate change as a future problem, whilst us in global south have been feeling the effects for a long time. My hometown has had wildfires and temperatures rising as well as draught and it is all directly linked to the colonialist management of water and land, plus you know macroeffects of global warming.
I live in Greece and my father runs a small family business which is things for backing. That means lots of plastic things. But it is the only thing that brings money for not only my family but for other two. He is trying his best to always find the more environmentally safe product but that's not the case for many products, such as plastic bags that Greek businesses use despite the law. People often say to me that I should not be a part of an environmental conversation because on my family business but people have to learn that it not always easy to survive and be able to take full action.
I’m glad a RU-vidr is using their platform to talk about the effects of capitalism and the fact that a majority of pollution is caused by big companies NOT individuals. THANK YOU!
I just wanted to pipe in and say that single use plastic medical items (especially needles) is something that effects both disabled people and trans people (who usually have to be on hrt for life when they choose to).
Another general contradiction I see: A lot of mental-health-oriented memes are focused around being less self critical, taking on fewer commitments, not worrying about things you can't control and not thinking too hard about your food. But I think that in order to be effectively sustainable and effectively advocate for environmental justice, you need to do a lot of these things. You need to ask yourself if you really *need* that new thing from Target, commit to to advocacy movements, care about the fate of people across the world and eat less meat. I don't see a ton of discussion around this tension between mental health management and being a good global citizen // SJW
The Earth Is Dying Because Of You Yikes dude. a lot of kids go through self destructive phases, you’re being majorly harsh. Remember to mind your mental health too, you know?
I think they mean be less self-critical as in its fine if you don't have makeup on today, you're not ugly. Take on fewer commitments as in don't overwhelm yourself, 50 goals in a year is way too much if you have trouble doing 5 goals in a year. Not worrying about things you can't control as in "I was awkward at the grocery store and now the cashiers think I'm weird". Not thinking too hard about your food as in its fine if you eat a muffin or have McDonald's. I don't see how these memes are talking about being sustainable, they're talking about mental health and that we need to be less hard on ourselves.
Medical products and items are a huge area for ‘green guilt’ (what im using to describe feeling bad about being unsustainable). Medication has plastic packaging, medical implements are single use for sanitation reasons (gloves and needles for example). Being ill, injured, or disabled often necessitates environmentally damaging products and behaviours. People with low mobility often cant access public transport, dietary restrictions can prevent a vegan or vegetarian diet; environmentally beneficial choices need to be made available to everyone!!!!!!
I really appreciate you making a video educating your viewers about how sustainability should coexist with the needs of disabled people. All of the examples you mentioned reminded me of my grandma because she has disabilities of her own which require her to use plastic straws, plastic shoe horns so she doesn’t hurt herself trying to put on shoes and socks, and more plastic products that make her more functional as a disabled, elderly person. It really bothers me when people say those items she relies on should be outlawed because then all of her independence would be stripped from her. ❤️
THANK YOU for acknowledging the disabled community we need more people like you willing to learn and advocate for ourselves! Also another major disposable debate was prepackaged food like pre sliced fruit like apples. A lot were taken out of markets due to outrage but that’s how a lot of disabled people have to make meals
I literally cried because you touched on everything I know that people don't think about. When I talk to pretentious sustainable people they forget the poor the disabled and the fact that ENVIRONMENTAL RACISM IS A THING THAT EXISTS. People suffer from toxic environments and companies fail to properly dispose of waste and minorities who can't afford to move because of public housing or incentives suffer. You are literally my favorite person for using your platform to spread these truths and I AM HERE FOR IT!!!
We love a sustainable queen 👑 Your fast fashon video definitely inspired me to be more conscientious of what I buy and where I buy my clothing along with other items.
YES! I'm from Argentina and here we are full of protests against corporations that come to our country to take our natural resources. As a poor country, the government justify the exploitation of our land saying that we're going to get more money. Spoiler: it never happens. We are a rich country in resources so we have discussions about frakking, mining, agrotoxics, having huge pig or cow farms for exportation that contaminate a lot... super sad
(As an indigenous person) I love love love that you talked about the affects on indigenous people!! I've watched countless "eco-friendly" "sustainable" videos that don't mention it at all! Thank you for including it!
I remember a couple of months back I was SO close to buying a hydro flask and I knew I didn’t really need it I just needed an insulated water bottle but the hydroflask was just aesthetic but then I found a water bottle at Walmart that was just as good for only 10 buck and it still works great. And over time I learned that lesson of just because it’s expensive dorms mean it’s good or necessary or even better than it’s cheaper counterpart. Like I would try to justify spending unessacsry money I didn’t have (well I had it but I couldn’t afford to use it) on expensive item not even because I needed or maybe even wanted them they were jsutvaesthetci and trendy and I would make excuses. For example my Kankakee backpack I love it to death still use it today but at the time I bought it did not need it and I bought purely for the aesthetic, but I was making all these excuses like oh it had a lot of space or it’ll last me forever. Like yea that’s all true but the early reason I bought was for the aesthetic.
This is a very relevant topic, your channel is getting deeper and deeper! It is also important to think about the disabilities, it is a huge part of developing empathy! You also got me really impressed, because I'm a Geography teacher and many of these topics are supposed to be discussed in class (and you talked about them with expertise because of your great researches!).
A lot of real zero-waste RU-vidrs I see show off the items they use but often they aren’t actually “sustainable” but it’s because they already have it and that’s how I can really see that they really are living in a enviromentalist mindset! They use what they have and don’t buy what they don’t need and it’s great to see them being good influences and not treat it like a luxurious trend. (Also they explain the better option that they’ll get when they’ve used up whatever it is they are using, which is super helpful too)
