Why Caring About the Planet Doesn't Always Change Behavior
Photo by Eugene Zhyvchik on Unsplash
Many people care about environmental protection and stopping climate change, but their daily actions don't always align with those values. Psychologists call this the intention-action gap or value-action gap: the distance between what we intend to do and what we actually do.
The gap doesn’t suggest a lack of compassion or concern. Human behavior is shaped by many factors, including habits, convenience, and cultural norms. Even climate scientists, climate activists, and people with strong environmental values often struggle to consistently align their actions with their beliefs.
To help ensure that the Earth remains safe and habitable while respecting the integrity of the natural world, we can work together to align our actions with our environmental values.
Contradictory Value System
While the majority of us care about the planet, we exist within a culture that puts a lot of pressure on us to cross planetary boundaries and produce and consume more than we need.
People are increasingly rejecting consumer culture, but there is still a lot of pressure to participate. Owning the newest phone, buying designer clothing, or purchasing bigger homes are sometimes viewed as status symbols that can be more important than environmental stewardship.
Historically, tribal acceptance made survival much more likely, so we learned to tailor our behavior. This psychological survival mechanism, which kept us safe in the past, may now encourage behaviors that exceed ecological limits. We can begin to challenge our cultural tendency to excessively consume and adopt lifestyles that truly respect planetary boundaries and value environmental stewardship.
Even amidst sweeping wildfires and record-breaking temperatures (and rising costs), air travel reached an all-time high. Our drive for convenience and enjoyment may be taking precedence over aligning our behavior with environmental protection.
Developing a Healthy Relationship with the Earth
During the Holocene epoch, the climate system was stable and our planet supported human flourishing. Many scientists now argue that we have entered the Anthropocene — a proposed geological epoch where human behavior is shaping and harming the Earth’s climate and ecosystems. Without changing course, access to clean drinking water, reliable food production, and a stable climate will become increasingly difficult in many parts of the world.
History shows that humans are capable of having a healthy relationship with the Earth. Many indigenous communities valued and continue to value respecting environmental boundaries and practicing reciprocity with the natural world. History also shows that many societies have been primarily destructive to the local environment and put human needs before planetary boundaries.
Our safety, health, and survival are intrinsically linked with the safety, health, and survival of the natural world. When we harm the environment, we simultaneously harm ourselves and the people around us.
What We Can Do
There is a lot we can do to change our trajectory and increasingly align our values with our actions. This transition would require self-analysis, challenging deeply embedded social and cultural norms, and enough self-control to change any habits that harm our environment and cross planetary boundaries.
Buying second hand, participating in the gift economy, replacing unnecessary consumption with other environmentally friendly activities, protesting government inaction, growing food locally, building local energy systems, and traveling locally to cut back on emissions are a few things we can do individually and collectively to ensure that Earth remains safe and livable for all. (See the Articles section for coverage of all these topics and more.)
The Earth Hero App (available for Apple and Android) can estimate your carbon footprint and level of consumption. It also provides practical suggestions and a supportive community to help people gradually transition toward a more environmentally sustainable lifestyle and push for the scalable system changes needed to address climate change.
