You were probably taught in school about the importance of your carbon footprint.
“It’s important to lower your individual CFP to save the Earth.”
So you recycle. You avoid plastic straws. You take shorter showers. You bike to work. Maybe you even skipped a flight once to lower your emissions.
And while all of that technically helps in small ways, it also feels kind of… out of touch. We’re dealing with a global environmental collapse, yet most of the mainstream “solutions” focus on symptoms rather than root causes.
Shifting Blame to Individuals
Somehow, the blame for climate change has landed on regular people. Forget your reusable bag? Shame on you. Bought a plastic water bottle in a moment of desperation? How dare you. Going on a trip? You shouldn't do that, it's bad for the environment.
Meanwhile, corporations continue to pollute, extract, and destroy at record speed, and no one’s holding them accountable.
In fact, did you know the term “carbon footprint” was literally popularised by BP? Yeah. One of the world’s largest oil companies paid for a marketing campaign that convinced the public they were the problem. It’s genius, in a really dystopian way.
A single private jet flight emits more CO₂ than the average person does in a year. Billionaires launch themselves into space for 11 minutes of fun, burning through tons of fuel just for the Instagram flex. And the rest of us? We’re told to take 3-minute showers and to stop using our car.
Make it make sense.
Turning on Each Other
The saddest part is that this narrative works so well, we’ve started turning on each other. We shame people for forgetting their tote bag, for using AI, or for not buying expensive vegan products, even when they can’t afford it.
Take AI, for example. Maybe you’ve seen those posts online about how every AI search uses many litres of water and contributes to climate change. So people start blaming other people for using ChatGPT, or DeepSeek, or even Google Suggested.
But here’s the thing: you probably can’t avoid AI anymore. It’s everywhere, social media algorithms, search engines, customer support bots, your FYP, even the app you’re using to post your climate takes. Meta, Google, Amazon, all the biggest companies are building their businesses around AI. So unless you live totally off-grid, chances are you’re part of it too.
So maybe we should stop yelling at each other and start funnelling that frustration toward the companies who actually have the power and responsibility to change things.
Greenwashing in Conservation
This brings me to something I see a lot in my own field: greenwashing in conservation.
You’ve probably seen coral planting projects before. Beautiful videos of divers planting coral fragments onto degraded reefs, often backed by big resorts or corporations trying to appear eco-friendly. In theory, it sounds like a dream, restoring what’s been lost, one coral at a time.
But here’s the harsh truth: if we don’t tackle climate change, none of those corals are going to survive long-term. The ocean is getting hotter. It’s more acidic. Whole reef systems are bleaching and dying. So yes, planting new corals is a nice gesture, but it’s like putting a tiny Band-Aid on a large wound and hoping it’ll heal.
Coral restoration has its place if it’s paired with systemic action to address emissions, ocean warming, and pollution. But too often, it becomes a distraction. A marketing ploy. A way to say, “Look, we’re helping!”, without actually challenging the systems that are causing the destruction in the first place.
So What Now?
I’m not saying don’t recycle. Or don’t care. Or don’t try. Individual action can matter. It can build awareness, create momentum, and help people feel connected to the cause. But let’s stop pretending that using a paper straw is going to fix the climate crisis. Let’s stop shifting the weight of the world onto people who are doing their best in a broken system.
What we really need?
- Corporate accountability
- Policy change
- Systemic regulation
- And the political will to stop protecting profits over the planet
So yeah, use your metal or paper straw if you want. But don’t let anyone convince you it’s on you alone to “save the planet” while the people with power do the exact opposite.
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