Being In it for the Right Reasons

Why am I doing this? Why are we doing this? What is the reason behind our actions or the changes we make?

If it has a good outcome, why do these questions matter anyways?

If we are still helping the planet, why does it matter why we as individuals, or why businesses are doing what they are doing? 

Businesses can be in it for the wrong reasons

While almost no one sets out to start a business with the sole purpose of making the world a 👎🏽worse place, companies can do good things for the wrong reasons. People will pay more for things and buy more things if they are “good for the planet” and companies all over are trying to capitalize on this.

If a company’s only purpose for going 🌿green or creating a green product is something other than to help the planet or people, this can lead them astray rather quickly. It can lead them to creating products or services that have green marketing all over them, yet do very little for the environment. Or worse, they actually harm it, while consumers are buying them thinking they are doing good.

Again, not that the intention of these products or services are to cause harm, but this is the result of not having clear guidance for our decisions. And that’s what the reasoning behind our actions is: guidance. 🌈

Why we should be in it for the right reasons

When we don’t have such guidance in making decisions, we will eventually become lost. If we don’t have proper reasons behind our decisions and changes that we are making, we may blindly purchase and support products and businesses that we believe to be good for the planet, when they are not. In other words, we may easily become more susceptible to the many accounts of 🌱greenwashing out there.

Making changes in life, and sticking to them, is tough work. And when the going gets tough, and we don’t have a solid reason behind doing what we are doing, we are more likely to give up. When we have a reason behind our actions, we can lean on that when we need it.

When we don’t know why we are doing what we are doing, or if we have a reason that isn’t very meaningful, we may make decisions in our lives that are harmful to us, or that may even be harmful to the world. 🕯Without a guiding light, we may be sucked into decisions that aren’t even in line with our values or beliefs.

Some of the wrong reasons to help the environment ( by themselves) could be:

• Because it’s popular
• Because it makes money
• Because someone told me to
• Because It looks cool

Things like that, if paired with reasons like “I want to keep plastic out of the ocean” or “I want to leave this planet better for 7 generations into the future”, then that could be okay, but otherwise we will become lost on our journey.

What are the right reasons?

A company that wishes to reimagine the way we use products, change the way we view fashion, or grow food in a way that’s beneficial instead of harmful to the 🌍planet, are some great reasons behind businesses wanting to help the environment. Or in the case of LastObject: eliminate single use items by creating reusable sustainable alternatives. That’s a pretty great reason too.

Chances are, if we aren’t digging in and asking any 🤔questions or doing any research about the decisions we are making or products we are buying, we probably aren’t doing things based on a solid reason.

Ultimately on an individual level, good reasons for making environmental changes in our lives, will come from the heart. If it isn’t there, if we just don’t feel it, or see why we are doing what we are doing, maybe we should step away from those changes if they aren’t right for us.

☮️ The environmental movement and all of the living beings that need our help, need real changes that will come from a heartfelt desire to do so. Plus, life is much too precious for us to be doing things that aren’t aligned with who we are or who we believe we ought to be.

With the so-called time-crunch that we are under in regards to climate change, it feels like the world can’t wait for people to simply arrive at these changes on their own. But the world can only get better if we decide to save it on our own accord. 

For those that are ready, and they have come here on their own values, welcome. And for others who still need to get here on their own, we’ll be here for you. So, see you soon. 💙