Save The Planet, But Don't Sacrifice Disabled People In The Process

This was originally posted in April 2019, but because technology is confusing I accidentally updated it so it’s now listed as being posted in October. You’ll just have to trust me that I didn’t actually miss a month of posting. 

Sources are available at the bottom of the article.

I’ve seen a lot of people advocating for the ban of plastic straws recently. And, while it’s great to see people taking an interest in environmentalism, I am very disappointed to see how many people refuse to acknowledge that a complete ban of plastic straws is not a fair solution for everyone. There are many disabled people who rely on single-use plastic straws in order to live. The plastic-free alternatives are not viable options for everyone, and having a uniform ban is discriminatory.

Morocco has recently decided to ban single-use plastic bags, and I think this is brilliant. Provided there are reasonable alternatives given, and it doesn’t affect the packaging of pre-cut and pre-made food, I think this is absolutely the right type of single-use plastics to be targeting.

I am very concerned by people’s eagerness to altogether ban certain things that can be crucial to giving disabled people a good quality of life. Things like plastic straws, packaged pre-cut fruit and vegetables - I’ve even seen proposed bans of non-public transport vehicles in cities. These solutions, while they would reduce carbon emissions, may do so entirely at the expense of disabled people. Outright bans of things that people need in order to have any decent quality of life means potentially sacrificing the wellbeing of a whole community in the quest for controlling climate change.

But, to play devil’s advocate for a moment, is this a necessary sacrifice? Firstly, if you think the lives of disabled people are less valuable than non-disabled lives then... you kind of disgust me. Secondly – no. This is not the only solution to reducing our planet’s carbon emissions, nor are disabled people the biggest contributors to climate change.

At the heart of climate change lies capitalism and consumerism; this is evident in the fact that climate change has speeded up significantly since the industrial revolution. Our planet is not being ruined by disabled people just living their lives. It’s mostly being ruined by the 1% and corporations who have the money needed to invest in eco-friendly technology, the governments who refuse to switch to renewable energy sources - but it’s also being ruined by animal agriculture that wastes precious resources raising animals to be killed and made into McDonald's chicken nuggets, fast fashion industries that mass-produce cheap clothing in factories that are terrible for the environment and the workers alike, and other harmful mass-production processes. 

So, what can we do? Well, reducing your animal product intake is one of the single most effective ways to reduce your carbon footprint. Animal agriculture works on a demand and supply basis; meaning that the less people buy their products, the less resources get invested into it. I know that full veganism isn’t an option for everyone - as someone with digestive issues, I fully sympathise with that. If there’s nothing left you can cut out of your diet, that’s okay. But if you’re someone who eats a lot of cheap fast food meat, please consider cutting those types of products out of your diet. The cost is bigger than just the lives of the animals you’re eating.

Like I said, fast fashion is a culprit too. Next time you want a new outfit for an event, ask yourself,  “Do I need this? Will I wear it more than once?” If the answer is yes - ask yourself “What do I know about the brand I’m buying from?” Take a few minutes to research their ethical and environmental policies, find a source other than the brand themselves, compare brands and see if you’re choosing the best option you can within your price range.

Of course, things like using cars less and walking more do help. Turn off light switches when you leave the room so you’re not wasting electricity, etc. But realistically, the bigger problem isn’t the cars – it’s what they run on. Likewise with electricity usage – there are plenty of renewable energy sources out there, but the people in power don’t want to spend the money on them. For now, the best we can do is limit our usage of these things. But I think that, ultimately, one of the best ways to protest climate change is to put pressure on the people with the most power to actually take action. 

Encouraging people not to be wasteful when it comes to single-use plastic is great and all, but effectively meaningless if you're only applying those ethics to one product, or one source of carbon emissions. I applaud you for making an effort, but please remember that there are lots of other impactful causes to target. Next time we're talking about climate change, don't be so quick to talk about full and immediate bans of specific products. Listen to people saying 'this isn't an option for me', and just generally try and look at the big picture. 

As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this! Leave a comment if you have anything to add, and please share if you enjoyed this post.

Hugs,

Isabel xo


Sources

Plastic straw debate:

Morocco's plastic bag ban:

The industrial revolution and climate change:

Animal agriculture and climate change:

Fast fashion and climate change:

The 1% and climate change

Comments

  1. Climate Change and Extinction Rebellion

    I've been watching with increasing sadness, David Attenborough's series Our Earth and the BBC1 series, Earth from Space. Amazing stuff, we have the technology to shoot satellites into space, and cameras, that will film the earth from space. It enables us to see the changes in the earth and seas – changes wrought by the weather, by plants, water and animals. And then by us. Do we have the technology to reverse the terrible damage we are doing? Yes: they are called TREES and what are we doing? Destroying them as an increasingly faster rate.

    Take for instance Madagascar. Up to 90% of Madagascar's animal species are found nowhere else in the world. They depend on the diverse eco-system that the forest of the island had. Notice the past tense there: 13 species of lemur have gone exinct, 8,000 species are endangered. Deforestation has wiped out over 90% of its once rich forest, leading to erosion, altered water courses and more CO2 in the atmosphere.

    I'm a student of history, and we see the same themes crop up again and again. Poverty, riches; war and conquest; famine and plague. Seems for an intelligent species, humankind is pretty dumb. We've had writing since 3,000 year BC; been able to record the wisdom of the ages since then, and yet our view of ourselves has become monumentally over important. Somewhere along the line, man has formed the view that humans are the top of the food chain and the rest of the world is just for us to use. See a tree? Chop it down and burn it. Animals? Eat them, use their pelts for clothes and bodies for tools. Water? Drink it. All worked fine for a few thousand years, but now the population is so large, we have failed to see that the earth is a fragile eco-system that all parts depend on the other.

    We've known about climate change since the mid 19th century. We've had satellites up there monitoring and observing since the mid 20th. We have the science to do something. We have the means to do something. What XR and many many others are saying is, we need ACTION, from govts, from industry and we need it now! Humankind is killing this planet we live on and we are in danger of having a wrecked planet for our children and grandchildren. Zero carbon, ban fossil fuels, sounds drastic if you are a big company – but its THAT BAD! It will take action from ALL of us or we will perish.

    Lynn Mann



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