This article is part of Mochi’s winter 2023 issue, exploring what “environment” means to us as Asian Americans. From the environmentally friendly to your workplace, favorite neighborhood bar, or ethnic enclave — our environments are all that surrounds us, influences us and makes us who we are. Check out the rest of our issue here!
Like many other Asian American kids, I used to be infinitely embarrassed by the things my immigrant parents and grandparents used to do around the house to save money. Instead of cabinets filled with neatly stacked Tupperware and a pantry filled with individually packaged snacks, our family hoarded and reused every possible container and only bought off-brand in bulk. Back then, “eco-friendly” wasn’t even in our limited English vocabularies; it was simply yet another sign that we were poorer and weirder than my white friends’ families.
Nowadays, “zero-waste influencers” are touting these same practices as trendy — albeit in much more aesthetically pleasing ways — on social media. And as we learn more and more about the impact of our individual carbon footprints on climate change, I’m realizing our elders were on to something.
The little things we can do to help are more important than ever, especially as rising sea levels, deadly extreme weather, drought, and famine disproportionately impacts low-income communities around the world. Of course, it’s important to understand that corporations are absolutely to blame for the majority of greenhouse gas emissions and pollution, with about 100 corporations responsible for 70% of climate change according to a CDP report. The following tips are not meant to shame the individual and shift the spotlight from the real problem, but to provide suggestions for alternative practices and start showing corporations that consumers want change, and that we will continue to hold them accountable. As we’re all co-inhabitants with wildlife on this beautiful, blue and green…
Read the full article here
