Gatekeeping – The exclusivity of the environmental movement

I personally always feel like it is my responsibility, and kind of the responsibility of our generation, to save the Earth, or at least the Earth as we know it right now. Climate change is threatening various ecosystems on our planet, and this also threatens us and everything humanity has achieved so far. Nevertheless, people are gatekeeping the sustainability movement, and therefore, it keeps us from making any progress in saving the world.

First, what exactly is gatekeeping? Urban dictionary described it as follows: “When someone takes it upon themselves to decide who does or does not have access or rights to a community or identity. “Concerning the sustainability movement, this means that a group of people is not letting other people participate in their movement.

Nowadays, when looking at the sustainability movement, the world seems divided into two groups: those who follow the movement entirely and seem to be 100% sustainable. They have gone vegan, only consume slow fashion, and have become zero waste. And then the people who are not doing anything: just not taking the problem seriously. But the reality is that a big chunk of people is trying to take small steps, like eating less meat, trying to buy second-hand, or reducing their plastic consumption. The praise seems to go to all those undeniably doing an excellent job in being fully sustainable, but the people doing these small steps are often more shamed than those doing nothing. They seem never to do enough and never do things right, or at least that’s how I perceived the narrative. The movement lacks understanding. Not everyone has the chance or even the time to change their whole way of living.

We cannot expect society to change overnight. Some people do not have the means to buy sustainable clothing. Ethically made fashion is often expensive or cannot be shipped to a specific region or place. The better alternative here, to accessible fast fashion, would be to buy second-hand. Still,  the place where you live plays a huge role. Many rural regions do not have a second-hand or a charity shop. And even if you have them around you, primarily only straight-sized people get lucky to find items. Being plus-size and consuming eco-friendly and ethical products is hard and quickly becomes frustrating. The same thing goes with organic food. For some people, it is just not possible budget-wise.

People have other priorities than being eco-friendly, as harsh as it sounds. These priorities might be first to figure out how to get dinner on the table, how to get out of poverty, or just trying to survive in our capitalist world. Therefore, being more accepting and considering people’s problems and needs will help us move forward. Not everyone can give that 100%, but they can do 20% or even ‘only’ 10%, which is still better than doing nothing.

Of course, we must start changing our lifestyle and pay attention to the cause. The people who are doing that 100% are doing great and should keep doing it as long as feasible. However, we should also start celebrating the small things. Encourage the woman who just decided to do meatless Monday instead of eating meat every day. Congratulate the man who is taking the train to work instead of driving alone in his car, the girl who just bought a second-hand piece or the boy who refuses to use a single-use plastic bag. This is where society starts to change, with small, seemingly insignificant things, not with gatekeeping a movement, just because people are not doing everything perfectly.

If we keep pretending that perfection is the only way to go forward, we will only lose people who genuinely want to keep fighting against climate change. Perfection is not possible, but even the small steps can achieve something.