Is it Better To Do Nothing At All?

With being an environmentally conscious business, one of the things we continuously have to deal with is being accused of “greenwashing” or, even more frustrating, the things we are doing aren’t enough and the end result is not even worth it.

The question I ask you is; Is it better to do nothing at all?

Sure, we’re not perfect. Actually, we’re far from it. Our skateboards are still wrapped in plastic. the Forum Cafe is producing more waste than I could’ve imagined (though we’re currently working on ways to reduce an eliminate much of it). Just by running a business, we’re having a negative impact on the environment.

Perfection is the enemy of progress.

On a monthly basis, we calculate our carbon output using the best data we have at the time and are continuously updating our equations to better capture the real impact of running our business. Having this information gives us the tools to see where our biggest negative impacts are and come up with solutions as to how we can reduce those impacts. When we can’t eliminate those parts of our business, we do our best to offset the carbon emissions with donating to certified carbon capture projects and planting trees with the National Forest Foundation.

However, in some people’s eyes (sometimes, including my own), it never seems to be enough. Then I remind myself, the other option is to do nothing at all. Don’t worry about the plastic. Use cheap non-recycled materials for our apparel. Stop all of our initiatives to reduce and eliminate waste. Throw the “carbon footprint” calculators out the window. Keep adding to the problem and forget about being part of the solution.

It sure would be a lot easier to run PILLLAR. We would save a lot of time, energy and money if we didn’t care.

But we do care.

We actually care a lot.

So instead of casting shame on those trying to make a difference, those who are at least taking small steps to reduce the negative impacts on the environment, what if we all followed  in those footprints and worked together to at least do something? What kind of change could we make then?

“We don’t have to engage in grand, heroic actions to participate in change. Small acts, when multiplied by millions of people, can transform the world.” - Howard Zinn

I’ll ask again, is it better to do nothing at all?