A frequent skirmish that takes place in our house oddly involves restaurant leftovers. My middle son, with his low impulse control and trouble with empathy, frequently takes other family members' leftovers and eats them overnight (usually my eldest daughter's). Drama usually ensues where she chastises him for his thoughtless behavior, and in his typical sweet guy manner, he contritely apologizes and vows to not repeat the behavior. When we're talking to him about this problematic behavior, we stress the importance of not taking more than our fair share. The concept is basic and simple. In a family of 5, take about one fifth of the cherries in the sack, for instance. Make sure there is enough to go around.
Reflecting a little further on this concept of a fair share, we see that society's success depends upon it. At the grocery store, we assume no one is eating all of the bananas without purchasing them. In our neighborhood, no one steals all the bikes from our yard. We can eat an ice cream cone on the beach without a big bully muscling in and snatching it. Society's laws and norms protect most people's personal items in most situations. A balance between prudent boundaries providing for our family's future needs and a generous provision for our communities' and the world's needs is admirable and necessary. Taxation and charitable giving both reflect our society's understanding of the necessity of this basic concept.
However, we can see many examples in our country's behavior of imprudent use. We have simply grown used to taking more than our fair share, and the impact of a hyper-consumeristic culture is quite literally degrading our earth. Pope Francis, the current leader of the Catholic Church here on earth highlights our western "hoggy-ness"- a wastefulness and overuse he terms "throwaway culture" in his Encyclical letter Laudato Si: On Care for Our Common Home. Instead of taking a fair portion, we are consuming much more here in the US particularly and also producing a lion's share of the garbage and pollution. "A true "ecological debt" exists," Pope Francis states, " particularly between the global north and south, connected to commercial imbalances with effects on the environment, and the disproportionate use of natural resources by certain countries over long periods of time . . . The warming caused by huge consumption on the part of some rich countries has repercussions on the poorest areas of the world . . ."
Even our efforts at countering this environmental degradation can be tainted by our tendency to take more than our fair share. For instance, instead of a company seeking to reduce its own pollution, it is now possible for that company to purchase carbon offsets. Typically set up in third world countries, carbon offsets set aside an area of forest or create a new forest to act as a carbon sink so said company can continue its polluting. Carbon offsets can be an example of injustice as they place the burden of diverting environmental degradation to people who aren't responsible for it. Carbon offsets also make matters worse for some people in third world countries as the forests need to remain pristine, so leaders who have been paid by the company are essentially locking people out of places they may have previously depended upon for subsistence.
Don't get me wrong, carbon sinks and reforestation can be a great strategy to help combat environmental degradation. But this approach needs to be done locally and with a both/and type of approach- such as both plant more trees AND reduce emissions. A human oriented approach to environmental issues helps ensure we are doing things fairly. Pope Francis reminds us, "Today, however, we have to realize that a true ecological approach always becomes a social approach; it must integrate questions of justice in debates on the environment, so as to hear both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor."
Unfortunately, people's sense of a fair share has also been skewed by the pandemic, as folks began hording food and goods in March 2020. Many unfavorable environmental trends have also come from the pandemic. More ecologically impactful practices such as an increase in "to go" containers for dining in or carry-out food became the norm at many restaurants. Amazon's one-to-two day shipping was held up as a lifeline to folks who were under stay-at-home orders, ignoring the environmental costs of such frequent deliveries and human costs of warehouse and shipping workers required to bring the goods to us. Likewise, our leadership's decision to provide additional Covid vaccines to our citizens has been likened by World Health Organization's officials to giving a third life jacket to someone with two life jackets while some people go without a single life jacket.
Clearly, as a country who is consuming and polluting as much as we are, we need to step forward to do our fair share of the work required to care for our common home. "We need to grow in the conviction that a decrease in the pace of production and consumption can at times give rise to another form of progress and development. Efforts to promote a sustainable use of natural resources are not a waste of money . . ." Pope Francis states. We have gotten used to a lifestyle in our country that is not sustainable, and we as a people need to have a change of heart to turn away from the hyper-consumerism that is creating that unsustainability.
What are some things we can do to help change our mindset and work for both human and ecological justice?
1. Use stuff up. This sounds counter-intuitive to the concepts we've been discussing, but what I mean is a "good to the last drop" approach. We are used to purchasing more of or replacing many items before we have to, even relying on subscription services so we need never run out of something. Each year we purchase back-to-school items, many of which are pitched at the end of the year. Maybe we want a new car or a better toothbrush; we covet new items simply due to the novelty or because they fit our collection. We can make an effort to reduce some of those purchases and not replace items before we really need to.
2. Watch out for Tech. Folks who know me know I am somewhat of a technophobe. Setting that aside, new technological products can be pretty environmentally impactful. We also tend to tolerate programmed obsolescence in our technology more so than other items. For instance, if you are older than a millenial, think of your grandparents' phone, that corded one attached to the wall with the curly cord. How long did they have that same phone? 10 years, 20 years? Think of how frequently folks nowadays replace their phone. Cracked screen? Get a new phone. Contract up? Get a new phone. Dropped in the toilet? Get a new phone. Even apps and operating systems are no longer supported on older phones, forcing an upgrade in some cases.
This is one that is probably not going to sound do-able to many folks, but since we are talking about tech, I will throw it out there. We have a family cell phone. 5 people, one phone. How revolutionary of an idea is it that we've decided that each family member must have a phone? Sure, it can be a bit of a nuisance, but with some forethought, it is totally do-able. If you and your spouse can't bear to give up your cell phones, perhaps consider delaying the point in which you get your child a phone or allow them to get a phone. Having a cell phone you carry constantly is rather like carrying the One Ring in the Lord of the Rings. The more you carry it, the more you need to carry it, can't bear not to. Not ready for that? Making some intentional breaks in your day and in your lives to set the electronics aside can be a good baby step.
3. Keep Hope Alive While my friend and I were conversating the other day, I was sharing with her some information from Pope Francis' Laudato Si and how I was feeling compelled to try to live more sustainably. Bashfully, I admitted I hadn't been living in a very ecologically minded way. She told me not to be hard on myself and countered my thoughts with a new concept for me,"the myth of personal responsibility" for environmental care and impact. She explained that businesses with the largest impact actively try to shrug off the environmental impacts of their practices, instead placing the responsibilities of caring for our common home back on the individual person to make small, individual changes. As she put it, marketing companies have literally created guilt in consumers to actively and deliberately deflect from the fact that they are, in fact, the problem.
This is the approach my generation learned in school growing up, "Remember, kids, to turn off your faucets while brushing your teeth" or "Unplug your cell phone charger while not in use".While there isn't anything wrong with these practices, our concept of fair share reminds us that those with the largest impacts need to take active responsibility for their actions, as those changes will have the biggest impacts. We can ask companies and our lawmakers to make common sense changes to protect our common home that do not unfairly impact the poor. We also can vote with our wallet when companies espouse practices or beliefs we cannot agree with.
However, there is danger in the despair of giving up, feeling hopeless in the face of environmental degradation. We should not cease in choosing to make the choices we are each able to in order to live more sustainably just because other companies or individuals do not. At a minimum, living in acknowledgement of the impacts of consumerism and our efforts to change the culture for the better can be an example of personal integrity and authenticity. God will be pleased with any of our efforts, large or small, to care for our common home.
