"Only Connect"

E.M.Forster's epigraph for his novel “Howards End” has stuck with me over the years – 'only connect' is possibly one of the best explanations of sustainability I know. Sustainability is not just, after all, about environment, economics, and society, but about the linkages between those fields and how they affect one another.

So here are four things, in no particular order, that I've read in the last few weeks that are interesting in their own right, but I think once you connect them together they tell a much bigger story about our development of a sustainable society:

1. Joel Makower on the death of 'green' marketing on GreenBiz. I agree with a lot of what Joel has to say, the commenters (many of them green marketers) were not unanimously in support, causing what might politely be termed as a kerfuffle on that site;
2. A recent study that people who weren't environmentally inclined were less likely to take green action once they knew about their own ecological footprint;
3. A book review in the New York Times about how websites such as Google use algorithms that filter the content they provide you to reflect what they think you want to see. The result is a reinforcing bubble that suggests that the world is how you would like it to be. This explains the sustainability 'echo-chamber' where many people in the world of sustainability firmly believe that we're on the verge of revolution, while the numbers denying climate change (amongst other issues) is simultaneously on the rise;
4. An excellent book about the influence of politics on voting “The Political Brain” – which is about the US but is more widely applicable. Amongst a wealth of evidence the author, Drew Westen, cites studies that what people feel about an issue is much important in determining their actions than their judgments. So evidence has a tendency to reinforce what we already think – even when it contradicts our belief.

There are many ways that you can connect these dots. Here's one way I see it. There are different 'bubbles' of belief about sustainability issues. We're all pretty much trapped in our own bubble – the media we consume, the people we associate with - and our beliefs in and association with our bubble is continually strengthened. Environmental issues often seem to be the leading foot in sustainability discussions (ecological footprinting, carbon emissions, resource consumption and so on), and if you sit in this camp it can often been hard to understand how the raw data and the emerging picture is not compelling for everyone.

But we're trying to sell to one another using arguments that would work within our own bubble. Green marketers think that the best way to sell green products is to tout their environmental qualities and present more and more evidence. But in another bubble someone is thinking “green means more expensive” and no amount of evidence is going to persuade them to buy it.

So it’s depressingly easy to fret that change is impossible: “we” will never reach the people in their other bubbles.

But back to 'Only Connect'. If we stop putting environmental bubbles around people and think about other parts of the sustainability picture, then we can imagine a different set of bubbles. I might not agree with you on the environment, Mr. Climate-Change Denier, but maybe we both have parents or children whose health we care about.

The bicycle schemes that are popping up around the world are a great example of selling sustainability rather than ‘green-ness’ – people are hopping on to their B-Cycles, Vélibs and Boris Bikes not because someone’s told them to save the planet, but because it’s a convenient and easy way to get between places without the need to learn how to fix a puncture. A survey conducted six months after the London cycle hire scheme launched showed that “The most popular reasons for using the scheme were that it was quicker, healthier and more convenient than the previous mode” – so just because something is inherently green, doesn’t mean that’s the way to sell it.

As Joel Makower writes: “Even where green products do seem to be selling, it’s not primarily because of their environmental benefits. Organic foods? It’s about what we put into our bodies. Hybrid cars? They reduce costly trips to the pump. Energy Star TVs and appliances? They cut energy costs. It’s not really about the planet.”

So there's some positivity in there if you look hard enough. That green marketing doesn't work isn't the end of the sustainability world. We just have to reconnect with why we're doing this – we want future generations to be able to meet their needs, just as we've been lucky enough to date to meet ours. Yes, we need to get cleverer in how to do this – we need to break out of our sustainability echo-chamber and start listening to what other people have to say, we need to stop thinking that if we just cite enough evidence we will reach the 'unconverted', we have to remind ourselves of our common humanity. But there's scope there if we can show some humility, and try and connect with others that may not be exactly like ourselves.