Eco-fatigue: when guilt tires!

On TikTok, Karishma, nicknamed “Climate Girl”, was seen by her 38,000 subscribers drinking … from a plastic bottle. A gesture that she qualifies as a simple forgetfulness. “Yes, sometimes it happens,” she explains. “I get it, tired of feeling guilty in these moments, when I’m doing my best, it contributes to my eco-fatigue“, can we read in the comments of his video. “Eco-fatigue”, but what is this new term?

We already know about eco-anxiety, this feeling of anguish that some people feel in the face of climate change. This neologism has gained considerable media interest in recent years. Eco-fatigue is characterized by a form of discouragement, even a certain indifference to environmental issues. The term was theorized as early as the 2010s. In his 2015 book “LAutoconstruccion: La transformacion cultural que necesitamos”, the Spaniard Jorge Riechmann defines eco-fatigue as “a weariness and disdain for environmental messages, and the environmental movement“. The avalanche of information coming from companies, institutions, but also from activists themselves, would further amplify this feeling of weariness.

“Insufficient” ecological practices

We want to consume “well” in every sense of the word: eat seasonal fruits, promote local businesses, drink from water bottles, dress more ethically, eat less meat, etc. All these daily gestures labeled as “green”, lose, against all odds, not only those who do not do it, but also those who practice them. On Twitter, the hashtag #ecofatigue highlights the exasperation of Internet users with the inadequacy of environmentalism. “As soon as you think you’re doing something good like recycling, someone else will find all the reasons to show you that it’s not ecological“, can we read in a tweet. According to a report by the international NGO Carbon Disclosure Project dating from 2017, more than 70% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions come from just 100 companies. This study may infuriate individuals who want to make changes on their own scale, but who ultimately feel powerless in the face of multinationals.

In the study “Do your part?” from the consulting firm Carbone 4, carried out in 2019, the authors write: “the commitment of individuals and households to a decarbonization of lifestyles is certainly essential, and for all that insufficient to achieve the reduction objectives and aim for carbon neutrality in France by 2050″. They explain that even in the event of a very significant change in behavior (vegetarianism, stopping the plane, cycling, thermal renovation of his home, etc.), an individual alone would not be able to reduce his carbon footprint. than 45%. It would however be necessary to go down to 80% to respect the objectives of the Paris agreement (by 2050).

Environmentalists made to feel guilty, and made guilty

The latest “happening” demonstrations, which involve involving the public in protest, most often provocative, are increasingly common in different countries around the world. Throws of food on works of art, sit-ins on the highways, throwing of clothes on the public highway, the demonstrations do not always have good taste with the public, because of their “guilt-inducing” scope. For example, the demonstrations of the environmental collective “Last renovation” (for the energy renovation of buildings in France) which block streets, roads, the Paris ring road by sitting on the tracks. Their operations can exasperate some motorists, who sometimes push or threaten members of the collective. Some comments on their videos evoke the uselessness of their actions and their lack of consideration for citizens.

Faced with the floods of information on the environment, which sometimes contradict each other, and the need to always do more and better for the planet, the mental health of individuals is constantly put to the test. To combat its eco-fatigue, there are solutions: be less hard on yourself, always do your best are among the recommended tracks.