Episode 08: Intuitive Sustainability
EPISODE OVERVIEW FROM SAMEERA
I’ve spent a lot of time reflecting on how to go about living more sustainably in a way that also feels uplifting, productive, and accessible. I’ve noticed that when sustainability feels ingrained and innate in your life, it also starts to feel more authentic, manageable, and progressive.
I wanted to find new perspectives and ways of thinking that could help me build sustainability into my life in a more effortless, organic way, even as I consciously sought out change.
I didn’t want anything I shifted to immediately feel forced or uncomfortable because I knew that would ultimately just hold me back.
I love watching YouTube videos on wellness and lifestyle and cooking, so I had seen a bunch of content about intuitive eating, which is basically a way of eating that promotes healthier attitudes towards food and body image, and rejects things like diet culture, restricting yourself from eating, counting calories, etc.
There are 10 principles of intuitive eating, and as I was reading about them--I could immediately see the ways that a framework like this could be extremely helpful for people starting out with sustainability.
Before this month, I had been embracing my own personal mantra of ‘intuitive sustainability’ for a while, but one night after feeling a little burnt out from Plastic Free July, I wanted to sit down and more specifically define it and almost codify it with a set of 10 principles for myself.
It ended up being so therapeutic and I think the framework I came up with could be helpful to others getting started with sustainability or wanting to rewrite their relationship with it.
By my definition, intuitive sustainability is “using interests, instincts, and intersectionality to further the planet’s ecological balance through ongoing action and education.”
I came up with this definition by kind of taking parts of the definitions of both words and also the influence of the 10 principles I wrote out. These 10 principles definitely have strong ties to the intuitive eating ones and it’s almost interesting how a system of thinking can help lead us to positive changes in completely different areas of life.
Redefine restrictions
Number one of intuitive eating is ‘reject the diet mentality’ and this is the same idea. Think carefully before committing to a big lifestyle shift like going plastic-free, zero waste, or vegan. You can always make smaller changes that can eventually lead you down those paths.
You have to be able to understand your own limits when deciding what you can take on in regards to sustainability-- these limits might be influenced by your budget, your time, your health, and more.
2. Invest in your interests
Try to make changes that are aligned with things you like already! If you’re into fashion, get into thrifting and learn about sustainable production. If you like technology, learn about electronic waste and energy conservation. If you like financial things, look at social impact investing and ESG. If you love food and fitness, learn about plant-based diets. If you like something that seems completely unrelated, get invested in making those people + brands + companies + organizations more committed to the environment.
There’s truly something for everyone because the Earth literally runs everything! By starting out in an area that works with your interests, you’ll naturally become more passionate.
3. Give yourself grace
There will be times when sustainability isn’t a priority. There will be instances where you know the right thing to do and don’t. There will be weeks where you might not feel like trying. And it’s ok. Giving yourself the space to breathe and not being too hard on yourself in those moments will enable you to continue making changes in the future rather than just thinking it’s too hard and giving up entirely.
4. Challenge policy & corporations
There are ~big~ changes that need to happen. And they come in the forms of policy, regulation, taxes, business models, and more. These are the changes that will entirely change our future, and it’s important to use your voice and stay informed about what is happening.
Studies have shown that most individual sustainable acts will not have a drastic impact on emissions and climate change. Collective action plays a huge role in this movement and it’s important it doesn’t get pushed down. Write in to your representative, or as our guest Kelly Burton suggested in episode 6, message people high up in companies on Linkedin, sign petitions, vote, advocate for people and policies who line up with your views, and join in the conversation.
5. Check your closet
This means look at what you have before buying anything new and this applies to everything whether it be clothes, food, beauty products, anything really), and really think about your needs vs. your wants more consciously. I like this principle because it forces you to get creative like with styling your own clothes or making recipes for example, and own up to the waste you create. Also you can save a lot of money!
6. Celebrate
Celebrate your progress, celebrate our planet, and celebrate by supporting sustainable brands. So this principle is all about being proud of yourself and the smallest of wins you have when making changes, being outdoors + connecting with nature, and maybe treating yourself to sustainable products when you can and getting excited about them. But of course it’s so important to recognize the absolute privilege to live a more sustainable lifestyle and invest your money and time and energy for this movement.
7. Think about tradeoffs & the long term
When learning about environmental issues, there are so many factors at play and learning to understand how they interact with one another will give you a deeper more holistic understanding of the environment as an ecosystem. For example, if you want to go buy a stick of deodorant: any chemicals used for the production, the emissions from the manufacturing facility it was made in, the transport of the goods, the transport of you to the store--all just some of the factors that will each affect the planet differently. Being able to look at a product or service or brand and benchmark the impact of its different variables against one another is valuable when thinking about the long-term. It will help you think about prioritization and understand what’s most pressing within the movement, and also will help you learn about any issues that align your own interests and strengths when it comes time to contribute on a personal level.
8. Amplify intersectionality
Just as much there are many environmental factors at work, these will continue to overlap with human rights and social justice issues--whether it be pipelines and indigenous rights or industrial plants in low income communities, we can’t protect the planet without also protecting people. This is an idea that has really been brought forward in recent months through intersectional environmentalism.
This term was defined by activist Leah Thomas and part of this definition says that intersectional environmentalism “identifies the way in which injustices happening to marginalized communities and the Earth are interconnected. It brings injustices done to the most vulnerable communities and the earth to the forefront and does not minimize or silence social inequality.” Leah is the co-founder of Intersectional Environmentalist or @intersectionalenvironmentalist on Instagram--definitely recommend checking out this page for amazing resources to learn.
9. Interact
Follow accounts focused on environmental news or activism, have conversations with friends about sustainability , go to your local farmers market, get involved with the community or an online community.
10. Honor your health
This final principle is the same one that intuitive eating has. I think that in this case it takes on so many different meanings. Your physical health: having the energy to live a healthy life is obviously the first step in advocating for anything. It can mean learning to cook plant-based or make zero waste meals. And to me, it means staying in touch with your mental health through the journey of living more sustainably.
So I’ve gone through these 10 principles—why is following a way of thinking or taking any of these steps important?
On a personal level, sustainability can also be an act of self-care, of education, and empowerment. But sustainability isn’t a trend, purchase, or one-time volunteer work. It’s truly a marathon, not a sprint, and people need to step up and commit to continuing to learn and make changes that are sustainable within their own lifestyle.
By recognizing these two things as truths alongside one another, and by going through your own process to ingrain sustainability in your daily life, it will hopefully become as second nature to you as a habit you grew up with too.
I hope that these principles can become kind of like the bread and butter of environmentenlist, the foundation that we can all build upon and refer back to--and I’m so curious to explore other ways of thinking that can help drive change too like minimalism or time management.
As always, feel free to reach out and let me know if there’s a topic you’d like covered in a future episode--lots of interesting content coming up that I can’t wait to share with you all. Stay up to date with the show @environmentenlist on Facebook, Linkedin, and Instagram and send in any suggestions for the environmentenlist newsletter launching at the end of the month! Thank you for listening and I’ll talk to you guys soon.
