The world is burning. It’s all your fault… or that’s at least that’s what the media and corporations would like you to think.

As climate change and the threats of global warming have grown in public consciousness over the last several decades, there has been a push for people to take up personal responsibility for climate change.

You, as an individual, are responsible for recycling, reducing plastic, and being “thrifty” in your spending habits. If you care about the environment, that’s the bare minimum, right?

Even worse, people who often are beginning to shift toward eco-conscious mindsets are berated online and in person for not adjusting fast enough by both activists and critics alike. If you care about the environment, why do you own an iPhone or use an AC? Sentiments like this are designed to shift the blame to the everyday person, rather than the bigger players.

It’s demotivating to say the least. Skyline junior Siri N. says, “While my family and I have always been responsible with our trash, there is only so much we can do, and we are trying our best to help.”

The Guardian reports that, from 1988 to 2017, just 100 corporations were responsible for 71% of the world’s emissions. How is your average Joe supposed to fight that with paper straws and recycling? Not to mention how recycling products often end up in the same landfill as garbage. Recycling was a solution that people thought was ‘saving the environment,’ and it ended up being more for show than having an actual impact. The truth is that a lot of the world’s climate issues are out of our hands.

Personal responsibility to be as green as humanly possible is rhetoric that shifts the burden of change onto everyday people, even when it would be more effective to make corporation-level and governmental shifts to protect the planet. It’s part of a machine that validates complacency within global powers, as ultimately, climate exploitation is profitable.

That’s not to say that small acts of sustainability aren’t helpful; there is truth in the idea that every green action counts. But next time you beat yourself up over not being a ‘good enough’ activist, remember to share that sentiment with the corporations emitting far more than you ever will in your entire lifetime.

For more information:

Just 100 companies responsible for 71% of global emissions, study says