sustanabili-dit

SuStainabili-dit

let’s talk about: sustainability and culture let’s talk about: sustainability and culture

Has sustainability become white-washed? Is there room for more than just aesthetic eco-branding? Should we all just aspire to become zero-waste vegans?

WORDS BY Ingrid Mowbray

The face of the sustainability movement has become crowded with images of keep cups, compost bins and metal straws. I confess that in the past few years I have focused on making these switches and encouraged those around me to do the same. While there is nothing inherently wrong with inching closer to being waste free (do keep using your metal straw!). The sustainability space appears tunnel visioned when it comes to this, compared to the need to appreciate the intersectionality of other cultures and the environment.

We can learn a lot more about sustainable practices through observing other cultures— look… our plastic free inventions are great, but these alternatives have existed elsewhere and have survived our high consumption society (but let’s save the conversation of capitalism and sustainability for another time). More importantly, I want to highlight our need to understand the choices that some consider to be ‘killing the planet’ but are also significant cultural practices.

But what do I mean? I understand the power of examples, so bear with me! My very cutting-edge story: in a rural village in China, a man catches a fish to feed his family of five for the Lunar New Year. He recreates a traditional recipe, which involves dousing the fried fish with brown vinegar, garlic and sugar (these may be ingredients I have stolen from my mum). Should we tell this family to go vegan? Perhaps your answer would be different if I described how the man didn’t catch his fish, but instead bought the fish from Woolies. The point I’m making isn’t that only one of these men deserve to eat fish and the other does not. It’s about perspective— along with cultural, environmental and socio-economic factors that are important to reflect upon. However, I hope it’s recognised that in the former example sustainable fishing can exist, but the latter involves sourcing from commercial fishing—which is damaging to ocean habitats and unsustainable for the planet.

Did you know that commercial fishing operations sometimes use a technique called ‘bottom trawling’ to catch things living on the seafloor (like shrimp and scallops), which scientists say are similar to the destruction caused by cutting forests? You may be more familiar with the concept of ‘bycatch’, which occurs when unintended species such as sharks or turtles are caught in the longline fishing technique. But enough with the facts…these points can be found via some research on Google.

To bring to life my point on sustainability and culture, it is within the culture of the Inuit people (an arctic indigenous population) to hunt seals for food and

clothing. It is easy for people to jump on to this with anger and sadness—would your reaction be the same for cows and leather? Perhaps you have the same reaction and you’re equally unsupportive, but I encourage research and understanding that sustainability does not equate to everyone going vegan or using metal straws. Sustainability, however, does involve the discussion into whether seals are being hunted on such a scale that the seal population cannot sustain itself and there is a negative impact on ecosystems. There are important cultural traditions that have to be acknowledged—and quite often these practices are small contributors in comparison to the effects of mass scale businesses which expel fossil fuels and pollution.

On the topic of pollution… plastic… a very significant problem. I was somewhat inspired to speak on the theme of culture in sustainability by my grandmother who lives in China. I last visited her in the start of 2019 (ahh, pre-COVID times) and noticed that she still had plastic bags from the likes of ‘BI-LO’ and ‘Best & Less’—places which are either closed or my family haven’t shopped in for over a decade. It dawned on me that she had kept these bags for years and had just re-used them. I also noticed a familiar purple pencil case—the type I used in primary school where you can slide in letters to spell your name. The letters spelt ‘Ingrid’. She had kept it and made use of it over the years after I grew out of that pencil case (I moved on to Smiggle— we love that 2011 hype). While it isn’t ingrained in the Chinese culture to reuse plastic bags or items, this is a familiar pattern that can be observed in non-Western cultures. But I also know that my grandma probably isn’t thinking about the turtles when she reuses these plastics. Money saving strategy? Durable bag quality? Sentimental sensitivity? Regardless of her motive, she unintentionally has played a part in helping the environment. Over in Japan, there is the art of ‘kintsugi’ that repairs broken objects (such as a bowl or teapot) with gold. So instead of throwing away the broken object it receives a ‘new life’ (a wonderful approach to reducing waste). Sustainability has turned into an aesthetic showdown, and I dare say a little white-washed. There is room to learn from other cultures. We are too concerned with the perfect snapshot of our Hydro Flask that even if we had an old plastic drink bottle that had more years of good use, it is replaced with a cool alternative. I want to emphasise that you shouldn’t feel guilty owning a ‘less eco alternative’, especially if it can still serve its purpose (there’s also nothing wrong with washing and re-using a plastic zip lock bag). Of course, if there is an opportunity to buy an eco-friendly alternative – go for it! But don’t forget the items you have at home that shouldn’t always be thrown away and replaced if it still serves its purpose. While I commend those groovy bloggers/youtubers who can fit a whole year’s waste in a jar (still struggling to understand how), this path is not for everyone – once again there are cultural, environmental, and socio-economic factors that are important to think about. But if you are in the position to minimise your environmental impact, definitely go for it.

Sustainable practices are weaved into many cultures, but there are also traditions that can be perceived as harmful to the environment. Balance, an open mind, and some good old research is much needed in the sustainability space—both as a way to learn from different cultures and to pause and think before a disagreement. We can all discover new and exciting ways to become more sustainable across our planet… but this is challenging without expanding our cultural understanding and adopting a cosmopolitan attitude.