Eco Guilt and How to Overcome It
Letโs talk about eco guilt. A term that crops up more and more these days. What is it? More importantly, how do we stop it?
I have experienced my own share of eco guilt, but I am starting to overcome it.
Eco Guilt – A Definition
The feeling you get when you could have done something for the environment, but consciously made the decision not to.ย ย – Urban Dictionary
This is the basic meaning.ย
How many times have you thrown something in the bin that could have been recycled? Or had to buy another 10p plastic bag when you had one at home you could have used? You get the idea.
If you recognise these actions and are now thinking โOh no, this is bad, I bought a plastic water bottle yesterday, instead of bringing my reusable one from homeโ, well stop right there. This is the eco guilt talking.
Instead of letting these feelings affect your mental health and constantly having that nagging voice at the back of your head, here are things to remember:
Use Eco Guilt as Motivation to be Eco-Friendly
When the eco guilt feelings creep up on you, donโt just continue life as normal with these feelings. Use them to motivate you and change the situation!
It may seem hard at first to swap to a more sustainable version of something, but after a short time, it becomes second nature.
See what is happening locally too.
Recently, Iโve noticed more crisp packet recycling schemes starting and things that canโt go in my standard recycling, such as black plastic food packaging, now gets taken to M&S as they have are able to recycle it.
Eco-Realism – Little Things Help
I know I say it all the time, but doing what you can is better than nothing.
It is important to be realistic and accept that in this day and age, it is hard to environmental in every aspect of life.
Itโs not like we all live in solar powered wooden huts with composting toilets (I may be stereotyping there, but hopefully you understand what Iโm getting at).
I am a firm believer that if we all start taking action, even just by 1 or 2 eco-friendly life adjustments, then this attitude can spread and then make it easier to increase the number of greener lifestyle changes.
Everyone Has Different Circumstances
When overcoming eco guilt, itโs important to remember that no one is the same. We all have different living circumstances and that means that our environmental actions might be different.
I have experienced eco guilt regarding my health care. It shocks me just how much single-use plastic is used in hospitals.
Everything is disposable and wrapped in further plastic.
The reason for this though is hygiene and health.
When Iโm in hospital, itโs because I need to be, so I have accepted that this is a part of my life that is harder to make sustainable.
It doesnโt mean I canโt make other areas of my life more sustainable.
This goes for everyone. You change what you have the power and ability to change.
Have you ever experienced eco guilt? Have you managed to beat it? Let me know!
Megan x
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Sometimes i defo feel eco-guilt despite the fact ive never actually heard of this term! Theres aspects in my life where i know im not being very sustainable like ordering ยฃ100 worth of items off asos and usually sending it all back, always leaving the tap on when brushing my teeth, complaining about paper straws but then there are things i do to try and reduce impact on the planet like looking to more eco-friendly ways to live and commuting via public transport!
I’m a public transport user too! Maybe set yourself a challenge like turning the tap off in between brushing. Start from something small and then gradually more changes x
I love this post, I’ve never come across any others on this topic before – I didn’t even realise it was a thing! I often have eco guilt, which I think is really bad since I’m now blogging about sustainability (which I think ends up circling back and adding to my guilt? lol). Sometimes I forget to bring my water bottle into uni and they sell almost everything in plastic bottles, with some fizzy drinks coming in cans instead, so I feel so bad when I end up buying plastic bottles when I’m there ๐ฉ
Beka | http://www.bekadaisies.com
Tell me about it. I blog about sustainability, but still feel eco guilt. There are days when life is busy and we forget to do stuff, that’s ok though. As long as we are doing the right things on a regular basis x
I am learning more and more about the environment but I still feel the eco guilt sometimes! I think it is natural though, we have been brought up a certain way for so long sometimes itโs hard to break that habit and will take time! But I agree starting somewhere helps, no matter how little. Great post xxx
This is such a great post. I definitely need to use my eco guilt to be more eco friendly like you suggested! Thanks for sharing all these ideas to overcome it!
Great post! I get this every time I go to Tesco to do the food shop and forget my bag. To be fair it rarely happens now that Iโve gotten into the habit of taking a bag with me but every so often Iโll drop in and not have one on me. Or buying a coffee without my reusable cup! Totally agree that itโs hard to be eco-friendly in every aspect, Iโm trying to adjust in as many areas as I can. Then I think Iโll slowly start trying the harder, more โinconvenientโ changes.
Oh wow, I’ve never heard this term before but I actually get eco-guilt quite frequently without even realizing what it was! I totally jive with your point about how doing something is better than doing nothing. Not everyone can do EVERYTHING and shaming people for that is never the way forward. Fab post Megan! xxx
Oh my gosh I get eco guilt BIG TIME. I’m trying my best to do lots of little things like cutting down on meat, recycling more, and refraining from buying from fast fashion but sometimes I do slip up. And then I feel super upset about it! But at least I am more aware and have cut down a lot. And you’re right – everyone does have different circumstances and small things can make a huge difference.
I’ve never heard of this term before I read this post, but I do suffer from eco-guilt! I’m a lot more sustainable than I used to be, but I know I could be better! x
Lucy | http://www.lucymary.co.uk
I’ve definitely experienced eco guilt! But I see it as a positive thing because a few years back the same things that are causing the guilt wouldn’t have even crossed my mind. e.g. plastic bottles. I used to drink out of plastic water bottles for years but now I would only ever drink out of my reusable one. Its moments were I’m abroad and have to pick up a bottle of water that the guilt kicks in. Great post! X
https://www.femaleoriginal.com
I’ve never heard of this term before, but I definitely feel it every time I forget my re-usable carrier bags when I’m out shopping! I’ve now started to get into the habit of leaving one in my handbag, as well as keeping a re-fillable water bottle on my desk at work. It’s one of those with the times of day to encourage you to drink more, so it benefits the environment and my health too – win win! Great post, Megan! <3 xx
Bexa | http://www.hellobexa.com
It doesn’t happen a lot but damn when eco guilt does hit I feel bad! I find myself going ‘oh you know what’ and just shoving it in the bin. Instantly feel bad lol. I never thought about the hospital aspect before but I’m glad that you aren’t feeling guilty about that cause you 100% shouldn’t! Thanks for sharing Megan ๐