Money matters

I want to get real about something that is often cited a reason for not doing things that are good for you or the world: Money.

I’ll start by saying that money is something that I have extreme anxiety about. And I also know the realities of only having so much money to spend. There’s a common (and valid) criticism that sustainability or environmentalism advocates in general are elitist or out of touch with everyday concerns. A large part of this is because when it comes to personal actions you can do to promote sustainability, a lot of emphasis is put on buying more environmentally friendly products or from small and/or more socially or environmentally responsible businesses. While this definitely helps, and is a good thing to do if you feel comfortable enough financially to do it, this isn’t the only way to contribute to a better world. And I know first hand how this kind of emphasis can lead to feelings of guilt or resentment.

I moved to Boston with my fiancé, Steve, about 6 months ago, and not only did the move pretty much drain all of our savings, Steve is in school and I’ve been underemployed while trying to find the right full time job. Combine that with the fact that cities are expensive, and you have the reality that our finances are tighter than they ever have been. I’ve always had money anxiety (I’m the classic person who finds it much easier to spend money on others). But our situation the past few months has put it into overdrive. I’ve grown somewhat more comfortable with it and we’ve been able to gain a more solid footing, but when we first moved here I counted every dollar and was afraid to allow myself even the tiniest “luxuries” (like, we’re talking a cup of coffee from a cafe. Drip coffee).

And this also really affected my food buying habits. I’m a big believer in the importance of buying locally, and if not locally, then organically, and if not organic, at least fresh and minimally processed. I used to work at a farmers market for Pete’s sake, so I know the importance of buying locally, and I KNOW, and have even told others on countless occasions, that farmers market products are not always more expensive. But despite knowing this, I only felt comfortable buying frozen vegetables, and only conventional at that, because they seemed like the cheapest option on the surface. I’m sure if I sat down and really compared the prices I would have found that the veggies at my local farmers market were only slightly more expensive, or maybe even cheaper. But I was too stressed out to try to calculate that.

There’s a prominent theory in psychology put forth by Daniel Kahneman that there are two “systems” in the brain, he calls them system 1 and system 2. System 1 controls the kind of snap judgments and automatic habits that your brain executes quickly without really “thinking,” and system 2 controls deeper, more rational thought. The gist of it is that system 1 generally runs the show, but system 2 can take over–with some effort. However, mental or emotional exhaustion saps the energy that you have available to switch over to system 2, so you end up being more at the whim of system 1. To put it plainly, this is why people under stress do stupid things.

In my case, I was too emotionally exhausted from worrying about money (as well as trying to find a job, getting used to a new city, etc.) to use system 2 to rationally justify buying things that were even slightly more expensive, but better for the world.

This is the heart of the problem with trying to use rational arguments to convince people to behave differently or buy things that are more expensive but better for the environment (or things that are healthier or more socially conscious, etc.). Money is an anxiety for most people, and if not that, then there’s probably something else they’re worried about. That’s not to say that people are constantly so stressed out that they can’t think straight, or that those kinds of arguments aren’t persuasive for some or should be abandoned altogether, but rather that we need to recognize the influence that mental and emotional well-being has on decisions to take part in healthy, responsible or environmentally friendly actions.

Another important takeway is that not buying the “best choice” according to my values and, to be honest, my identity as a sustainability advocate, made me feel extremely guilty, and even ashamed, which did nothing to help the situation and just made me feel worse. Don’t do that to yourself, and don’t do it to others.

And I want to make clear that while I’m going through a tough patch financially, I know that I can hardly imagine what it’s like to truly live in poverty. People generally want to do good, and equating “good” with products that are more expensive, and frankly unaffordable for some, or even actions that are inconvenient or time consuming, can breed feelings of guilt, shame or resentment in people who are already dealing with enough stress as it is. Furthermore, as a way to cope with this cognitive dissonance, it can cause them to self-identify as someone who doesn’t care about being healthy or helping the planet. Which is bad for them, and bad for all of us.

So what is there to do about this? Here are a few of my thoughts:

• Recognize your own feelings about money. Money is an emotionally-laden subject for many. If you also have money anxiety, and find it hard to spend money on healthy choices. Recognize that as something to examine just like any other kind of anxiety. Learn how to separate the facts of how much you can spend from your fears. (I’ll probably do a follow up post that goes more into methods that have helped me with this)
• Go easy on yourself (and others). It’s ok if you’re not making the “best” decisions all of the time. What matters is that you make an effort. And the truth is sometimes you just can’t do the “best” thing. That’s ok. There’s more than one way to do good in the world. Just because you can’t buy recycled paper towels doesn’t mean that you don’t care about the environment.
• Take care of yourself. By taking care of your mental and emotional health, you’ll have more energy to think rationally and figure out better choices to make.
• Structural changes. I’m not going to get too political, because that’s outside of the focus of this blog. But I do want to say that poverty puts people in impossible situations, and the only way to really alleviate that is through systemic changes. Although money is very emotional, and confronting and working through our feelings about money can help you cope. Money anxiety is based in the concrete and very real need to provide for yourself and loved ones, and that is becoming increasingly hard for many in our society.

Money can often be a taboo subject, but it plays an extremely important role in our lives (whether you like it or not). We have to be able to recognize the various dimensions of its influence in order to grow.