When it comes to being sustainable there is often a lot of b******t we have to wade through in order to find the right way to live AND help the environment.
There is honestly a shitload of myths around sustainability and in this episode we are going to be shining a light on the top 10 so that you’ll know what to choose and what to avoid.
Some of these were suggested by you on Instagram, so thanks for the assist!
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Transcript:
Kia ora kaitiaki and welcome to Now That's What I Call Green, the podcast that uses a science-based approach to expose the bullshit green scans and help you understand the sustainability world that little bit better. So if you are looking to navigate through everything green or not so green, you have come to the podcast that strips the bullshit from sustainability. And today is a good one because we're chatting the top 10 myths about sustainability, which those of you on Instagram have contributed to. So thank you.
So let's get cracking. Number one, sustainability is expensive. This was the number one requested myth because this is without question the thing that everybody believes. Yes, sustainable products are of course more expensive, higher input costs, labour costs and so on.
But, at the end of the day, true sustainability is about buying only the things you need. So typically, people living a more sustainable life spend less. Sure, when you look at things like switching to an electric car, that's a big leap. But the cash you save on petrol actually adds up big time. So we're talking like a grand or two every year just on fuel. And as more and more people jump on the electric bandwagon, these cars are going to get cheaper to make and buy. We're already seeing that. And no, just quietly, I don't want to hear how electric cars are secretly worse for the environment. Every LCA or life cycle analysis ever done has disproved this myth and we will get to that shortly. If we look at fashion, yes, that eco-friendly jumper might cost more up front, but it's going to hang around in your wardrobe for ages, outlasting the cheaper, fall apart after two washes, made of plastic, extra flammable stuff. And of course, there's the growing trend of renting or buying second hand, which is stylish and gentle on the wallet. Yes, these things are really only accessible as it stands for people with a little bit more disposable income. And that is blatantly unfair and elitist, which is why people believe sustainability is ultimately more expensive. It isn't in the long run, but it's the short term that matters. And right now in a cost of living crisis, of course, people are making short term decisions as you'd expect. So this is kind of a hard one.
Living sustainably isn't more expensive in total, but the upfront costs can be and those are out of reach of many of us. What we need to be focusing on is ensuring that the people who are left behind, who are the poorest in society, who are paid below a living wage, we need to focus on lifting those people out of that so that they don't have to make short-term decisions that do not benefit them and do not benefit the planet. But that's a whole economical podcast that I'm definitely not going to get into.
But there's something a lot of us can do, which is food. So if you swap out things like meat for veggies and beans, it's not only lighter on the planet, but it's also lighter on your wallet and better for you. So, I don't know, start with something like meatless Mondays. I'm not saying you have to give everything up, but that sort of swap might make a difference to your wallet. Number two, recycling is the solution to the plastic pollution crisis. Is it bollocks? It's a nice thought though, right? But it is just not the magic fix we hope for. As I have said a hundred million times, only about 9% of all plastic ever made has ever been recycled. The rest is chilling out in landfills or floating in the oceans or being incinerated, which is terrible. The systems we currently have just cannot handle the sheer volume and variety of plastics that are currently churned out. But do you know what the most fucking infuriating part of all of it is, right? The oil companies, who are also the plastic companies, they knew all about this. They knew recycling would never be commercially viable.
They knew lots of different types of plastic would never actually be recyclable, but they lied about it anyway and they paid for massive PR campaigns blaming the plastic crisis on our lack of recycling. So sure, recycling has its place, but it is not the hero we thought it was. What we really need to do is think about what we buy and opt for less and reuse what we can. That is the key. I know, it's a boring answer, isn't it?
I'm not saying not to recycle, but it's complicated, it's confusing, especially with all the new changes and a lot of it actually doesn't happen. And if you want something to get mad about, go and listen to my last podcast on glass versus plastic versus aluminium because glass ain't the hero you think it is. Anyway, number three, eco-friendly products just don't perform. In my prior life as a CEO of a tech, this came up all the time as you'd expect. So it's a super common concern that going green means sacrificing quality or effectiveness, but that's just no longer true, right?
If you take cleaning products, the perception used to be that unless you're using something with a super strong chemical smell like bleach, it's just not working. But the truth is, green chemistry based cleaners are just as effective, if not more so, in keeping your home sparkly and fresh. If you don't believe me, have you heard of hydrogen peroxide? Natural as anything, corrosive as bollocks and will sterilise your house to death. I'm going to come back again to electric cars. Yes, I am obviously a fan. Early models weren't great, sure. People were worried about range, they were worried about power and the whole runaway reaction battery fire thing. But today's EVs are fricking awesome. They have good range, which is getting better. They have incredible performance, which outstrips most internal combustion engines, and charging stations are pretty common around the world now. If we turn to skin and hair care, well, I mean, technically I'm a cosmetic chemist, as you might be aware, and trust me, green chemistry has come a long way. Now, by green chemistry, I don't mean natural, because natural doesn't mean sustainable, and we'll come to that at the very end. But green chemistry is biodegradable or readily biodegradable stuff that breaks down rapidly into the environment and doesn't harm our waterways. It's also where those ingredients are sourced from. The sourcing is better. Green chemistry has come a long way. Sustainable, eco-friendly cosmetics are just as good. But of course, you need to make sure they're not greenwashing.
Our fourth myth is that EVs aren't better. I did think about making a whole episode about this. I still might do that because this is a rant that's been a long time coming. But EVs have less impact on the planet than internal combustion engine cars. It is a proven scientific fact from every LCA ever done, with one study showing the one exception being Poland, because Poland has a huge amount of electricity come from coal. This is true of all countries, even those countries where they don't get most of their
energy from renewables. So that just goes to show you that as renewable energy increases, electric cars will become even better. This is not to say they're perfect. Of course they're not perfect. And if everybody switched right now to electric cars, then our grid would collapse. I'm perfectly aware of that. Change happens slowly.
How long do you think it took for the internal combustion engine to be adopted? Batteries are now 98% recyclable. Lithium mining is becoming more and more efficient, so there's less environmental damage. And new battery developments mean that rare earth minerals like cobalt are no longer necessary as that is a human rights disaster in an utterly despicable industry. Over their lifetime, EVs emit far fewer greenhouse gases than conventional vehicles, even when considering the electricity use of charging. That's what the studies show. Studies have shown, again, that an EV can reduce carbon emissions by about 50% over its lifetime compared to a petrol car, and again, with more renewable energy sources, this will only increase. Yes, because they weigh more, they tend to shed more microplastics with the tyres. But that's not exclusively related to electric cars. My electric car weighs less than my old Ford did. SUVs, which are the most common type of vehicle on the road, they weigh just as much as electric cars often now because batteries are getting lighter and more efficient. And another point that people often don't think about is efficiency of electric motors. EVs will convert 60% of the electric energy from the grid to power at the wheels. You lose a lot of energy and efficiency from the engine to the wheels with all cars through heat and friction and everything else. It's just how it works. That's why you often have two measurements of horsepower, for example. One is at the wheels and one is usually at the driveshaft. You lose energy between the two. Electric cars convert 60% of this energy. Conventional petrol cars, about 20. That's a huge waste and it means that EVs require less energy to travel the same distance as their petrol counterparts.
And finally, the part that everybody forgets about, the direct health benefits. As EVs produce no tailpipe emissions, they have massively reduced air pollutants. And no one ever seems to think about this, but remember that 7 million people die a year from airborne pollutants, and that is going to grow. EVs are better guys. I'm going to get off my soapbox now, because this is something that annoys me. It's really peculiar. If you don't want to buy an electric car, don't. But why are we making up all these stories and how much they suck when they just don't? It's almost like it's being funded by an industry known for funding this information. Now I sound like a conspiracy theorist but I do wonder. Okay, halfway through. Single use is okay if it's compostable like paper or wood. This is a bug bietany and you will have heard me talk about it before. People get excited about things like paper straws and paper bags without realising they actually use way more resources to make than the plastic ones and they're not necessarily recyclable. The plot I did a few weeks ago I mentioned earlier about glass bottles actually being the worst choice got me some hate, which I found a little bit bizarre because it's not like you own a glass bottle factory. Why are you so determined to protect this myth? But the production of single-use items, even compostable ones, requires a substantial amount of resource. That means water and energy and raw materials like trees. This not only depletes forests, but it also uses huge amounts of water and energy during the manufacturing process. Glass production puts a huge amount of air pollution into the atmosphere and pollutes waterways too. Glass, of course, isn't compostable, but it is a single-use material people think is okay to just burn and throw away after one use. It's not. We use a lot of resources to make these things. Switching to compostable single-use items doesn't address the underlying issue of overconsumption or the idea of using something once and then disposing of it. It's just something we need to change. And yes, that still goes for even if something is made out of something theoretically compostable.
And I mean, I haven't even touched on the whole home versus industrial compostable thing. That's a whole other part. Number six is that it's too late to make a difference. This is a growing defeatist belief fuelled, if you'll pardon the pun, by those who stand to lose from the shift to sustainability. Who bonds that thing, I wonder? It is, of course, the fossil fuel industry. They have long had a vested interest in maintaining the status quo and they pour millions of dollars of resources into weaving a narrative that change is either unnecessary, because you know everything's totally fine, or futile.
This and unfortunately the latter is now gaining traction. So we've managed to go from nothing's wrong, it's all fine, to ah, it's too late now anyway, which is just breathtaking. But this myth totally ignores the evidence of our ability to enact positive environmental change and of our planet's remarkable capacity for regeneration. I like to use the example of the ozone layer recovery, right, which was a massive global environmental crisis, which I don't really think people realise how big a deal this was, like it was game over for the planet, right? But this showcases our capacity to address and reverse damage when we unite and work together to do it, when we do the mahi tahi, which means work together as one. Around the world, there are heaps of examples of change, right, beyond this. So Germany, massively industrialised nation, has managed to cut its carbon emissions by 40% over the last decade. 40% is massive.
Nearly 47% of Germany's energy now comes from renewable resources. So it kind of debunks the myth that industrialized nations can't decarbonise, right? Then you have Costa Rica, one of my favourite places in the world. I say there having not actually been there, but it's on the list, they have shown the power of a national commitment to sustainability. Costa Rica is one of the most biodiverse nations on Earth, but they chopped a good chunk of their forest down. Within just a couple of decades, they turned the tide and now about 60% of that country is covered in forest again. Pretty remarkable. And they generate over 98% of their electricity from renewable resources. There are good news stories like that everywhere. It is absolutely not too late. Number seven, sustainability is only about the environment. This is pretty common, right?
You don't think about people when you think about sustainability. It's bizarre. It couldn't really be further from the truth. At its heart, sustainability is as much about us, the communities, our health and economies, as it is about the planet. Because, I mean, it's not only the right thing to do to consider people, but our planetary health kind of has a big impact on people. And people of colour, people in developing nations, those in poverty, they are the ones who will suffer first and the most from climate change, despite having the absolute least to do with it. Sustainability is absolutely about people. If we look at clean energy, right, it's not just about cutting carbon for the fun of it, it's about cleaner air in our cities, reducing respiratory problems
from pollution, as I mentioned earlier. Or if we look at sustainable farming, this isn't just good for the earth, it provides us with nutritious food, supports local farmers, supports local communities and stabilises food prices. Sustainability also means jobs. The renewable energy sector, for example, is a powerhouse, if you'll excuse that pun, for employment. They outpace traditional energy sectors in job creation.
So when we talk about sustainability, it's not talking about leaving people behind like I think people believe it is. It's about creating a world that's better for us and obviously better for the planet. It's a win-win.
Number eight is something you are seeing more and more as people begin to realise that actually, yeah, this is a problem. You know what we'll turn to? Tech, because tech will solve all our problems. It is really tempting to think that we can invent our way out of any environmental issue, but it's not that simple. But fuck, it would be handy, wouldn't it? Or if we lived in like the Harry Potter world and they could just fix it for us moronic muggles who keep fucking things up. Of course, there'd be some other issues with that way of life, but I'm going to ignore the idea of psychotic Dark Lords for now. Technology is amazing. It offers tools like renewable energy, electric cars, they're crucial for reducing emissions. But tech alone will not fix everything because our problems aren't just technical, they're about how we live, what we value, the choices we make every day. I mean, as we mentioned, even the best recycling technology won't help if we keep consuming and throwing away more than we need. And whilst, yeah, electric cars are great, if cities are designed so everybody needs a car to get around, we're still going to have the traffic problem issue. And then there are other tech inventions that people are pinning their hopes on, like hydrogen, which is nowhere near as good as you have been led to think it is, and comes with a lot of infrastructure needed, or carbon capture tech, which doesn't work at scale and is largely useless currently. And then you've got weather control, where we control the temperature with something called stratospheric aerosol injection.
Basically, they spray stuff into the atmosphere to reflect more sunlight back, and whilst it definitely works, it also has some pretty bad side effects like making rain more acidic, which will make oceans more acidic, which is kind of bad. We need technology, obviously, but we also need changes in behaviour, we need policy changes, kind of a bit of a societal shift. I'm not saying you have to give everything up, but we need more than just carbon capture tech. Our penultimate myth is that as a country, you cannot be sustainable and have a strong economy. Pretty sure Costa Rica would disagree, but I think our current government might believe this. But it is total bollocks.
Globally, renewable energy employment has reached 11.5 million jobs, way more than the 4.7 million people currently employed by coal. In addition, you have investment in renewable energy and energy efficient technologies that are massively outpacing fossil fuels as it should. And renewable energy investment globally totalled almost $300 billion in 2019. Investment means a strong economy. If you look at countries leading in sustainability, they also show massively strong economic performance. So Denmark, right, known for its commitment to wind power, and they have seen their economy grow whilst reducing carbon emissions.
Sweden is the same, a GDP growth of 2.1% in 2019 and they have decoupled or separated their economic growth from carbon emissions thanks to their investment in green tech and their carbon pricing mechanism. Yes, there is no denying it, it will cost trillions to decarbonise our world. But it's not like we're throwing that trillions of dollars away. It will create millions of jobs, stimulate investment and improve livelihoods. And you know, preventing further climate change, which is pretty fucking priceless. It's going to cost about $9 trillion a year to decarbonise our planet. That is a lot.
But let me just remind you that every year we subsidise oil companies globally between $5 to $7 trillion every year. So I think I know where most of that nine could come from. Now we have number 10. This is a bit more lighthearted for you. Natural is more sustainable. This is my favourite. So I've saved it to last.
Now you might already know that I despise marketing terms like natural or clean. They are meaningless nonsense used by companies to sell a product that they can't sell without manipulating the consumer. As I think we know, natural doesn't mean safe because arsenic and radium are perfectly natural and you do not want to smear either of them on your skin. And clean, well clean doesn't mean anything. I've never seen a good definition of clean. Anyway, that's it. I know that a lot of you believe that natural is better for the planet, but it actually isn't. And I understand why people believe this, because it feels like it should be obviously true. Natural equals more sustainable. It doesn't, because think of the scale. So if we take palm oil for instance, it's a totally natural product, but its production leads to massive deforestation, loss of wildlife habitats, and massive greenhouse gas emissions due to the clearing of those tropical rainforests. Another example would be cotton. So yes, it's a natural fibre, but conventional cotton farming is water intensive and often relies on heavy use of pesticides and fertilisers which pollute waterways and harm ecosystems. And organic cotton farming uses even more water. That meat, way more sustainable than real meat. Coconut oil, which is riding the wave of the palm oil boycott, has its own sustainability issues, like the erosion and deforestation, and you need four times the amount of land to produce the same amount of coconut oil as palm oil. And then if we look at essential oils, so if you take rose oil for example, you need 5000 kgs of rose petals for just 500 grams of oil.
So that's five tonne of rose petals for half a kilogram of oil. Think of all of that land and water and the pesticides. And if you look at ingredients that occur naturally like clays or the sodium hydroxide, which is a key ingredient in soap making, they have massive sustainability issues because they get mined. The latter, so sodium hydroxide, is now predominantly produced in labs, which is a much more sustainable and safer option than its naturally mined counterpart. Similarly, many essential oils have nature-identical versions which have been created synthetically,
which, whilst not natural by the strictest definition, they are a more sustainable and accessible alternative. Sometimes synthetic is just better. And actually, in fact, that's almost always. So, here you go. Consider your myths debunked. I hope it was interesting. I always enjoy these episodes. It's stuff that so many people believe and I will enjoy the comments on it later. At the end of the day, so much of what we believe is dead wrong and it's based on a lot of assumptions that seem logical but aren't when you examine it. But that's okay because as long as we are willing to have open minds and consider evidence, then it doesn't matter what we believe as long as we are willing to change our minds. Kia ora kaitiaki, have a wonderful week and see you next time for a special Earth Day episode.
And there you go. I hope you learned something and realised that being green isn't about everything in your pantry matching with those silly glass jars or living in a commune. If that's your jam, fabulous. But sustainability at its heart is just using what you need. If you enjoyed this episode, please don't keep it to yourself and feel free to drop me a rating and hit the subscribe button. and feel free to drop me a rating and hit the subscribe button.
Kia ora and I'll see you next week.
