Mission Statement

I have struggled trying to understand my place in a sustainable culture. Eager to begin building a better future, I was met with many obstacles. Sustainability culture felt overwhelming, classist, expensive, and overall hard to achieve. I felt like I would need to invest in an entire new life, complete with more and more material items; something that immediately felt contradictory to me. Being completely sustainable apparently came with a price tag that was only accessible to the very people who were the worst over-consumers to begin with. I didn’t think I had the time to live my life more ethically. I thought I would have to compromise the joy of receiving or buying a gift for myself. I didn’t think I was brave enough to join communities of people telling me that my Target trip was the reason for the climate crisis. That if I ate a hamburger, all my other efforts would be put to waste. I was disturbed by the concept of “green washing.” I didn’t know where to start.

And once I found it in myself to address these concerns, I was faced with possibly the biggest one. Even if I did everything in my control, did it matter?

Did my plastic free/sustainably made/compostable/eco-friendly product even make a difference? By itself, no, not really. We are fed the idea that our small contributions make a difference, but what if I was the only one doing it? Sure, it might feel good, but what was it really doing in the grand scheme of things?

Big corporations and companies are responsible for most of the climate crisis. And that feels completely out of my control. I felt angry. I feel angry. Really angry. Angry that I could try my hardest and it might not even matter. Angry that I felt so powerless. Angry that everything I could do felt like putting a bandaid on a bullethole. I felt so defeated.

It took me a while to get to the place I am now. It began with the acceptance that I only have control over myself and my own actions. That’s it. I will never be able to force any one person, let alone any corporation, to make a sustainable effort. All I have is myself. But I care about myself. I care about how I feel about myself. And I want to feel like I’m making a difference. I want to know that no matter what happens, I can say that I always tried my best. My best might look different everyday. My best will evolve and change with me, hopefully to an even better personal “best.” And that’s all I can ask of anyone else. Try your best.

Do one thing on this list, do five things, ten, do them all. Do what you can. Feel good about what you are doing. And don’t do it for me. Do it for you. Do it for the people you care about. Do it so your favorite hiking trail doesn’t disappear. Do it so you can swim in the ocean. Do it so you can go outside and breathe fresh air. Do it so you can continue to respect and appreciate the beauty of this planet we live on. Do it for your kids.

Have moments of weakness, of defeat. This is not failure. This is trying your best.