By: Jazmine Martinez

With the environment being in such an uproar in today’s concerns, there is a stigma in the implication of “activists.”

"[...] to think of yourself as being somehow privileged or more advanced than others in your appreciation of the need for social change."

Activism is being 'actively' involved, mentally and physically, in movements from environmental to political. This is, to take increments of time dedicated to a larger cause other than the self. The idea of being educated on everything there is to know about the issues concerning the environment, and sharing their experiences on social media with strikes, clean-ups or being active participants in leadership positions within the community in order to preserve the environment.

There is no problem with this type of action being taken — it is even preferred. When outsiders see this happening, they assume that this is the only way to help. For example, as soon as the web page opens, environmental advocate Greenpeace demonstrates the most effective way of acting to be a donation. This is beneficial, since all the money goes towards helping wildlife through fundraising and services. They recommend monthly donations and show donation pop-ups whenever they get the chance on both their personal page and their social media accounts.

However, many think that you need to donate or dedicate these long hours to being involved with the environment in order to label yourself as an “activist,” which isn’t the case. There is nothing morally wrong about asking visitors to donate, but when viewers see this initially, they correlate ‘helping’ with money, which may not always be providable.

People find this as one of the only ways of helping, so they choose to not help at all. One of seven reasons in the Psychology Today article titled, “Why Do Smart, Caring People Ignore Environmental Issues,” Ph.D. Barbara Markway states that people have too much to worry about in their personal lives, focusing solely on their own issues instead of outside ones like the environment. If there was an assumption one could take smaller steps, such as using a reusable water bottle over plastic, there would be a drastic improvement in that alone.

Jenny Le from The Green Medium states:

“[...] that to be an environmentalist, one must completely trade in their lifestyle, one that relies on convenience and affordability, to one of pricey energy-saving vehicles and time-consuming habits.”

This is a widely made assumption with society; the idea that you must give up the luxuries of convenience and make a moral adjustment. Not exactly.

Of course the event-sized actions make a statement to the majority, but many could do lots of little things that lead up to larger impacts overall. Little do many know that, as stated on Greatist, using a smaller plate while eating at home or at a restaurant could help water usage, resulting in less water consumption as an individual. Even going on environmental publications and signing petitions could show there are people that care about issues happening. This is simply signing a name, phone number and checking a box, sharing common beliefs.

It’s not about having the label as an environmental activist that really saves the deterioration of the Earth. It is a group effort of mindfulness and consideration for the planet that the community could make in order to lessen the normality of human consumption as a whole.

Define "Activism"