We're all fighting for a sustainable future.
This post first appeared in our weekly Make Waves Mondays email series on March 06, 2023.
Ya know...I had another plan for this week’s blog topic entirely, friend.
But then…Instagram happened.
It’s a wild place, social media.
Truly, I’ve curated a very beautiful corner of the internet that has baffled many a friend when I’ve mentioned that I haven’t seen XYZ things on ABC platform.
But sometimes, even within my beautiful corner of the interwebs comes interaction that I find truly bewildering.
Because most of these interactions are coming from WITHIN the sustainable living community itself.
Here’s what happened:
On Wednesday, I posted a short carousel on Instagram about the mind-boggling benefits of washing your laundry on cold.
We’ve got a whole blog post on the topic, if ya wanna read more ✌️
In short, there’s literally no downside to washing your laundry on cold. It’ll save 90% of the energy used, it’s just as effective as warm water, your clothes will last longer, and it’ll save you buku bucks on your energy bills.
And according to a 2015 study from The Sustainability Consortium, 2% of the greenhouse gas emissions in the United States every year are from doing our laundry - a stat that was included on Slide #2 of the carousel.
And the post got a comment! I love getting comments on posts! I love talking sustainability and celebrating eco-wins with EcoWarriors!
And this comment in particular I was very excited about.
The person asked if the 2% emissions number included drying the clothes, as well. This is a great question! Yay!
I didn’t remember off the top of my head, so I went back to the study and found that, yep, the 2% emissions includes both washing and drying! So that’s a double-win for eco-laundry - wash on cold and hang dry as much as you can.
Boom 💥 So excited to share that info!
So I did.
And then I got a response from that same person. Yay! Conversation! Let’s put the “social” back in “social media” for gosh sakes.
“Okay yeah that makes sense. It also means, though, that hang drying would make more of an impact than washing on cold 🤷 just a thought”
👀😒🙄
Look. Yeah, sure. 100% is more than 90%.
But that in quite literally ZERO ways takes away from the fact that switching to cold water for your wash cycle will save 90% of the energy used to wash your clothes.
We all gotta wash our clothes. And we all gotta dry our clothes. These two things are not mutually exclusive. We can make better choices for the planet and our wallets in BOTH of these ways - not one or the other.
But really, friend, it’s not the comment itself that got to me.
It’s the deeper implications.
We are all on the same side.
We all want a sustainable future for all living things.
We all want to make the best choices for our families, for ourselves, and for mama earth.
Zero waste, plastic-free, vegan, vegetarian, car-free, minimalist, palm oil free, locavore - all of the eco-friendly lifestyles and whatever you want to call them are all on the same side. We’re all fighting for the same thing. A sustainable future.
So comments like these that are trying to actively detract from an ~objectively~ net-positive message from a small business doing their absolute damnedest to be the most sustainable company and provide the most sustainable products in the most sustainable way are harmful to the entire eco-movement.
Like I said a couple weeks ago, where’s the “yes, and” of it all?
“Washing your laundry on cold saves 90% of the energy emissions associated with washing your laundry.”
👉 “Yes and once you do that, hang-drying your laundry saves 100% of the energy emissions associated with tumble drying them.”
Easy. Peasy.
So instead of detracting from positive eco-messages, let’s use that energy to make larger, broad-scale changes that will impact everyone everywhere - not just the 772 people on Instagram who saw this one post from a tiny business and make them feel like they have to do one or the other.
✨ Call your government officials and ask them to eliminate oil subsidies.
✨ Write to major corporations and ask them to stop using single-use plastic.
✨ Vote in all local and national elections for leaders who will invest in renewable energies, universal healthcare, basic income, and actually helping all people survive and thrive.
✨ Sign and share petitions for policies and projects building a sustainable future.
✨ Volunteer in your community building community gardens, stocking food pantries, developing mutual aid projects, and more.
✨ Share and amplify messages of everyday sustainability within your own networks to bring more people into this community rather than dividing the one that’s already here.
We’re on the same side.
Let’s grow our team together, rather than attack from within 💙
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