How an individualistic society exacerbates the climate crisis

This column was written by 23-year-old Jazine ten Houten from Eindhoven. She studied Science & Technology at Fontys Applied Sciences and has been involved in climate and sustainability issues for years.

Jazine ten Houten

A phrase that’s been circulating a lot on social media lately is “everyone wants a village, but nobody wants to be a villager.” What this means is that everyone wants a community that welcomes them, helps them, and makes them feel special from time to time. But being considerate of the people or other species around you turns out to be more difficult. This article is about the growing group of people who struggle with this.

Sometimes we get so lost in our own stories that we forget other people have stories of their own—stories we often know very little about. People tend to view their own families and upbringings as the norm, which often limits the space for deeper conversations with others. The individualization of society impacts various social aspects, including how we approach sustainability and climate issues.

Sometimes it seems as if we’ve forgotten that humans are part of something greater: nature and the animal kingdom. In the Netherlands, there are few animals we need to fear. However, we react very strongly as soon as we feel even slightly threatened. For example, a few years ago, a child was bitten by a wolf. Our first reaction was to shoot the wolf. Questions about what provoked this reaction from the wolf—and whether it was a warning or an attack—were hardly asked. Of course, it’s unsettling for us and our pets to live in an area alongside wolves, but the wolf is simply an animal acting on instinct and exhibiting natural behavior. This therefore requires vigilance and adaptation on our part as humans, although it now seems that we’d rather adapt our environment than adapt ourselves.

Something that never ceases to amaze me is how we pollute our environment simply because it’s too much to ask to hold onto our trash until we reach the next trash can. As a result, streets, yards, and parks are littered with trash. Trash that also blows into people’s yards. Not only does it detract from the beauty of our surroundings, but during dry spells it also poses a danger (think of cigarette butts and glass), and animals can get trapped in the debris. Much of this trash also ends up in the water, where fish then ingest it. Maybe that’s the very same fish that ends up on your plate later. Big cities start to stink from the pollution, and a picnic in the park surrounded by trash turns out not to be so romantic after all.

And if our own environment doesn’t interest us, then foreign countries certainly don’t either. Because we feel the urgent need for a new, cheap wardrobe every season, we import clothing that’s produced under poor conditions and with high levels of pollution, and then flown all the way here. All this while we throw those clothes away after wearing them just a few times. Much of that clothing is of such poor quality that it can no longer be donated and instead ends up in a pile in yet another country.

In short: the individualization of society isn’t just difficult when you’re going through a tough time in your personal life. It also pollutes our own environment and that of others. Who knows what we could achieve as a society if we were just a little more considerate of one another.