Eco-Guilt vs Eco-Pride: How To Inspire Pro-environmental Behaviour

By The Sustainable Fashion Guru

“Eco-guilt is guilt that arises when people think about times they have not met personal or societal standards for environmental behaviour.”

It’s the deep breath you take when you buy a plastic-wrapped sandwich for lunch. It’s also the 'sting' you feel when you forget your reusable coffee mug. At this point, we all feel it. It does not matter how many vegan meals we eat or how many times a week we walk to work. Somehow, none of us are doing enough.

But is guilt really a useful emotion? Do our feelings of guilt actually motivate us to take - and maintain - sustainable action?

Over the years, studies have positioned guilt as a motivator for pro-environmental behaviour. Some experts believe that feelings of guilt force us into making better choices, becoming better people. In a recent study, psychologists and sociologists came together to argue that guilt “motivates the individual to make reparation or find a way to deny responsibility” and therefore could be used to motivate pro-environmental action. 

Interestingly, however, the same study admits that guilt can, and often does, cause denial - the very last thing the sustainability movement needs. Further studies have also shown that although guilt can motivate intention, it doesn’t always manifest in eco-friendly behaviour.

Furthermore, eco-guilt is comparative; we feel guilty because we’re not doing as much as those around us, or, more likely, we’re not doing as much as we think everyone else is doing. This means we are likely to only do the bare minimum, just enough to feel better about ourselves. We might start turning the TV off rather than leaving it on standby, reducing food waste, or taking a reusable bag with us when we go out.

Now, I’m not saying these changes have no significance. Every step closer to sustainability is an important step. But not all pro-environmental actions are of equal value.

The concept of eco-guilt is being manipulated by corporations and governments to place the onus on the consumer. It’s no accident that the study I mentioned was commissioned by the British Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to “provide robust, evidence-based advice to policy-makers in the UK and elsewhere who are seeking to understand and to influence the behaviours and practices of ‘energy consumers’”. As the study recognises, however, action is limited to what is most accessible - and, within our current systems, very few sustainable behaviours are actually accessible.

Did you know that, in 2005, British Petroleum (BP) launched a devious marketing campaign which introduced the concept of a “personal carbon footprint”? The term stuck, and nowadays, we’re all aware of the potential impact that our daily commute, our diet, or our summer holiday might have on the planet. On 22 October 2019, BP posted a tweet saying “The first step to reducing your emissions is to know where you stand. Find out your #carbonfootprint with our new calculator & share your pledge today!”. Journalist Andrew Henderson replied “I pledge not to spill 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico”. Andrew has it right. Corporations like BP - one of the world’s most polluting companies - are deliberately harnessing the power of eco-guilt to distract us. They want us to feel guilty about our own actions and forget the enormous damages they cause. They want us to take the easy way out, encourage us to make the smallest changes possible, so that we feel good - so that we don’t question their position and their industry. 

Fashion brands do the same thing. By releasing a few ‘sustainable capsule collections’, they trick customers into thinking that simply buying these items is an environmentally sound action. Spoiler alert: consumerism is not going to solve anything. The change we need is systemic. We need pro-environmental action to be accessible to all. We need everyone to do their part, not out of guilt, but out of pride. As it turns out, pride is a much more effective motivator.

So, instead of guilting each other about our diets or our “personal carbon footprint”, let’s have a look around at all the amazing grassroots movements happening around the world. Let’s challenge brands and corporations by demanding real change. Let’s be proud of all the things we are doing to help, and make sure that our future actions are actually enacting change. By all means, keep using your reusable mug, but maybe also join a protest, reach out to government officials, or support a small sustainable organisation.

It’s time to rid the sustainability movement of guilt altogether, and be proud of what we can achieve.