It's Chelsea from The Financial Diet,

and this week's video is brought to you by Curiosity Stream.

And this week, I wanted to talk to you guys about a phenomenon

that we've all probably come into contact

with on our social media feeds and in real life, which

feels like one of those things we should all be doing,

but often is much more complicated

than the simple narratives would have us believe.

And that is zero-waste and/or eco-friendly Products

We've all grown up having what we can refer to as the three

R's drilled into our heads--

reduce, reuse, and recycle.

But we know now that recycling itself

is an insufficient solution to the environmental problems

that we face.

And more importantly, the action that must be taken cannot be

left up to individual consumers.

Many of the changes that we have to make

have to be systemic changes--

changes that are imposed on the corporations which

are the leading drivers of carbon emissions,

for example, or on governments which

can compel all of its citizens to comply,

rather than requiring each individual

to make the choice for themselves, not only because

on the individual level, it can often

be hard to know exactly what the best choices we can make

are, but especially because, depending

on your socioeconomic bracket, making the eco-friendly choices

can often be very difficult or prohibitively expensive.

For example, if you are one of the millions of Americans

who lives in a food desert, where

you have insufficient access to things

like fresh produce and comprehensive supermarkets,

buying higher-quality local foods

is going to be difficult, if not impossible, for you.

Or, making sustainably produced clothing item choices,

which are often many, many times the price of fast fashion,

is just financially not possible.

In fact, when it comes to individual choices

versus corporate responsibility, here's

a pretty jarring statistic.

Just 100 companies are responsible for 71F00:01:53,490 --> 00:01:54,809 of global emissions.

And when we think in terms of scale

about choices that are easier to make, rather

than convincing the billions of people on the planet

to make different choices, we could focus our attention

on those companies and their practices.

But because a lot of the systemic changes that

need to be made for us all to move toward a more

environmentally sustainable future

can feel overwhelming, many times,

the individual consumer choices can become incredibly popular.

In fact, in many ways, this zero-waste eco-friendly trend

has become kind of a brand unto itself,

exploding in popularity on social media

and creating entire mini-subgenres of consumerism.

And while everyone being more conscious of their carbon

footprint and reducing the consumption of things

they don't need is undeniably a good thing,

it's a practice that, in addition

to being somewhat privileged-- as I've outlined--

and an insufficient solution on a global scale,

it's also inevitably going to be a somewhat hypocritical

lifestyle, as it's impossible for most modern people

to completely escape from making choices that

aren't exactly carbon-friendly.

In fact, some of these zero-waste

slash eco-friendly products and trends

can be kind of problematic.

And more importantly, putting such a hyper-focus

on individualist consumer choices--

and in some cases, even making it into a personal aesthetic--

lets off the hook the major corporations and governments,

which are hugely responsible in driving these climate issues.

And while we would never advocate

to be apathetic about these choices,

or say that because some of these eco-friendly items

and choices are a little bit insufficient or problematic,

that the entire movement is without merit,

it's important to remember that things which

can look on the surface like a meaningful change

are often more about aesthetics or, quite

frankly, feeling good, rather than actually doing

something meaningful.

Although they may have started with the best of intentions,

these seven eco-friendly habits are often

much more a waste of money.

Number one is all-out plastic phobia.

Now, in many zero-waste circles, the concept

of zero waste and zero plastic are conflated.

The truth is that, while plastic containers are not

always the desirable options when

compared to things like glass or aluminum containers, many of us

already have quite a lot of plastic Tupperware,

or tend to get them when we order things like takeout food.

And encouraging someone to get rid of all their plastic

only to replace those items with more eco-friendly options

is not only financially not a great move for many people.

It requires getting rid of what you already have.

Many of us have kept the same Tupperware items for years

and, occasionally, even generations on end.

And as I mentioned, often these reusable plastic containers

come with food that we happen to have already ordered.

They may even come from items that you buy in the store.

Focusing on being diligent about reusing your plastic items,

and not seeking out more of them when possible,

is a much better solution than avoiding plastic at all costs

and getting rid of all the plastic that you have.

Yes, bringing a Mason jar salad to work

every day is a lot more aesthetically appealing

than a Tupperware salad, but ultimately, they

serve the same function.

And while some of your plastic items you

may want to avoid putting in the microwave, for example,

they're perfectly acceptable storage units

for food on a day-to-day basis.

Ultimately, if you are looking to be

smart about the kind of storage you're

using, making the most of what you have

as a first step is a much better move than going out

and replacing it with what may be ultimately better items

for the environment.

You're much better just washing out

that old jar of peanut butter and using it for storage

than going out to buy a brand new, beautiful set of Mason

jars.

Number two is needing a one-to-one replacement

for everything.

Often, the bloggers and websites and influencers

who are teaching you how to create a more sustainable,

eco-friendly slash zero-waste lifestyle

will offer lengthy lists of all the items in your life

which should be replaced with much more sustainably produced

and reusable items.

But in many cases, you're much better

off using one item for several purposes

than specifically going out and buying

a more eco-approved replacement for the item you're

getting rid of.

For example, you don't need to be replacing plastic forks

and knives with a set of bamboo cutlery

you bring to the office every day.

You can just bring silverware from home.

You don't need to have a different thermos

or jar for your water, coffee, tea, smoothie,

et cetera every day.

You can use one transportable cup for everything.

You don't have to go out and buy a set of cloth reusable

napkins.

You can bring cloth napkins or small kitchen towels from home.

The desire to go out and buy these beautifully designed,

aesthetically pleasing, and eco-friendly items

to replace all of the different items

in your life that may not have been ideally produced

is understandable.

Much ink has been spilled on the popularity of things

like those beautiful faux-bamboo swell bottles, for example.

But if you still have that Nalgene from college

that you used to drink liquor out of,

that thing is completely fine.

And that brings me to point number three, which

is buying all of your eco-friendly products online.

Now, it's very easy if you're following

some of these offer mentioned zero-waste bloggers

or influencers or Instagrammers to want

to order the things that they're recommending.

But researchers at MIT found that online shopping in general

generates about five times as much CO2 emissions on packaging

as brick-and-mortar shopping.

And delivery even on standard online shopping

produces about 0.5 kilograms of CO2 emissions-- twice as much

for rush delivery.

Now, obviously, depending on where you live,

sometimes buying online is going to be your only option

for certain products.

But the popularity of the digital zero-waste community

can sometimes be kind of paradoxical,

because the items that they're promoting for you to buy

through their blog or website or YouTube channel

are often going to have a much larger carbon footprint,

simply because you're buying those items online.

Taking the time to actually go to a brick-and-mortar store

to pick up items that you may have been looking at online

may a less convenient choice for you personally,

but ultimately, if the goal is to reduce your carbon

footprint, is going to be the better one. m it gives you

the opportunity to connect with local artisans and shop owners

rather than buying all of your stuff from some nameless brand

online.

Number four is buying the same stuff you used to, just

with better packaging.

It can't be ignored that many companies understand

that presenting themselves as more

friendly to the environment is a good marketing tactic.

And for these producers of consumer products,

getting you to still buy the product,

but feel better about it because the packaging is less

damaging for the environment, is a much, much better goal

than you realizing that that may be an item that you don't need.

Rather than focusing on just continuing

to buy the exact same items, but reducing their packaging

impact, a better question to ask yourself

would be how to reduce the overall number of items.

For example, switching to corn starch--

which you already have in your kitchen--

over dry shampoo, using your bottle of conditioner

to shave your legs, paring you a variety of cleaning products

down to a few all-purpose cleaners,

repurposing old T-shirts and socks for cleaning rags,

or challenging yourself to see how

many of your day-to-day makeup items you can combine or get

rid of.

If you can challenge yourself to more radically pare down

the number of items you're purchasing,

rather than focusing on each of these many, many items being

packaged in the smartest way, you

won't just be making a better overall choice

for the environment.

You'll be saving yourself a lot of unnecessary spending.

And similarly, number five is being overly focused

on packaging.

Ingredients, sourcing, and manufacturing

all play huge roles in the items that we're buying.

And while the packaging is the easiest place

for the brands selling these products to market

the difference, the packaging alone

does not tell the whole story.

For example, is it better to buy a plant-based mayonnaise

in a glass jar if that mayonnaise was

made with palm oil?

What about buying bulk agave or almonds?

Now, you'll never be 100% perfect in trying

to focus on the most environmentally

friendly purchases.

But it's important to remember that there's

so much to consider beyond just the packaging alone.

A product that has a much bigger negative impact

on the environment as a product, or has

way worse production, sourcing, or manufacturing standards,

should be weighed justice heavily

as having glass or paper versus plastic packaging,

even if they make the packaging look so cute.