Looking Beyond Zero Waste

View of the sea looking through a flower bed.

First of all this post is about Privilege. I was born into Privilege. Number one with the colour of my skin. There's no denying that being born white means more doors are instantly opened for you. If you had said this statement to me a year ago I probably would have taken issue with it. Mainly because I've never seen anyone be openly racist to anyone of colour, "it's 2019, everyone in the UK is treated equally right? Regardless if your a man, women, trans, a person of colour!"

When I became apart of the Zero Waste movement which led to the sustainability movement, articles/ influencers/ podcasts/ blogs have fallen into my lap and I've begun to learn. I came to realize that everything from the Climate Emergency to the clothes we wear are all intrinsically linked to ethics and race.

I'll be honest I've found it hard to read/listen/absorb. Did you know that if your a black women in the UK your 5 times more likely to die in childbirth than your white counter part? The figures are shocking! After listening to the recent BBC Radio 4 Women's Hour on the subject I was seriously shocked at the sometimes conscious and unconscious acts that can lead to these figures being very real in 2019. Let's face it we could talk for hours and hours, well actually years and years on the subject and quiet frankly I have a lot more to learn before I can write on the subject but the point I'm making is about the privilege we are all given or not given.

Secondly I'm privileged because I was born into a stable family unit with two parents, siblings and extended family. That meant school life passed by pretty swimmingly. I wasn't the most academic of the bunch but I was encouraged to do enough to get to college and later university. My parents earned and saved enough that they could help me a little while at uni. I was also born in a country where getting a student loan is normal and easy. I had a home to come back to and live rent free so I could save for travelling and then when I finally settled I had a Mum that had saved over the years and put that together with a little inheritance to help me into my first home.

I now live what is probably considered a very middle class life. I've got a mortgage, a car, a decent job, two happy and healthy step sons and a happy and healthy daughter. I've got a lovely partner and although we wish we had a little more saved in the bank and are pretty careful with money, we still have nice holidays and a shiny red VW parked outside the house.

Privilege and the Zero Waste Movement.

I'm telling you this because it's easy for me to say I'm going to spend a little extra on pasta because it comes package free, or not care that the moisturizer I brought today was double the cost of the one I used to use but it comes in a refillable pot and is made with natural ingredients. It's easy for me to say that cloth nappies and shampoo bars are going to save you money in the long run you just have to fork out the initial cost upfront because I'm lucky enough to be able to do that. And because I'm lucky enough to do that in my opinion I SHOULD!!!

Lets get this straight. I'm not expecting Barbara the single Mum working full time and supporting 3 kids on her own to do this. I don't expect her to give up the Primark habit because for her it's not a habit it's a necessity.

Do I spend a ton more on sustainable living?

I honestly do think I spend around the same amount, if not less on day to day living while living a low impact lifestyle than I did before because some things cost a lot more but I know I spend less on others. I'm lucky enough that I don't need to look too much into it. The figure is a very rough one in my head.

So by all means you could read this blog or follow my Instagram and think "yeah it's alright for her to do all that shiz" and that's okay. But what I hope it does it just make you think. Think about the impact you have on this world. You may think its your right to be able buy clothes at a cheap price because you need them and can't afford to shop more ethically but how does that right effect the rights of the people making the clothes? The people killed in factories that fall short of safety standards? The cotton pickers that are so badly effected by the use of pesticides and are paid below the living wage. We don't think about this because we can't see it. It's happening poorer countries and there's a reason it's happening there. Because huge companies can pay contractors less to get more. Meaning they are not legally required to know exactly what's going on in those factories. It means that this IS a class problem AND a race problem. And until we address this, climate change will not get any better.

In my opinion the Zero Waste Movement is a good one. But it's also a very middle class movement. I believe we need to except that, go with it, use our privilege in order to think about how we can break the cultural and class biases because although it shouldn't be down to the average Joe, huge companies are not going to sort the problem which us . That would mean dramatically less profit for them.

What can WE the Privileged do?

1.Diversify your feed.

If your on Instagram start by diversifying your feed. Follow women of colour that talk about race and sustainablity. I recommend @ajabarber @novareidofficial @standforhumanity @nowhitesaviours @afuahirsch. Follow and listen. That’s important! They don’t need our opinions, they need to be listened to.

2. Know who made your things.

From your clothes to your interiors. It may be cheap but where did it come from and who made it? When things are made cheaply like your clothes it has a massive impact on the environment, are more often than not made my women paid less than the living wage,and can have serious health implication to the people around the factories because they release toxic chemicals into the local environment and water ways.

3. Consume less in general.

Just because a company is sustainable and product is made ethically doesn’t mean we still need a new outfit for every occasion. Everything is unsustainable if it is done on mass. We need to slow down fashion as well as make it ethical. Take only want you need and enjoy living with less.

4. Vote

Vote with your feet when it comes to consumerism but vote in the elections too. Its the most important thing you can do. Vote for a party that has plans for better. Better for our planet and our country. Do they have plans to address the amount of women of colour dying in childbirth? If they don’t we need to be asking questions. Writing to your local MP is always a good place to start.

It’s down to us to demand change.

So it is down to us, we the privileged. That have lovely parents who supported us, can afford to buy the bulk pasta, and that have smart phones in our pockets to educate ourselves with information we need to break this cycle. Vote with your feet and walk straight past H&M and then have fun on eBay looking for some amazing second hand clothes.

As always, much love.

Hannah xx