Think of something you do that pollutes, but you do it anyway. You’ve justified why it’s okay. You’re balancing you desire to do good or whatever on one side with something on the other.

Actually, think of all the things you do that pollute, if you can. You’ve justified all of them. At least you do in the moment you do them. Maybe you fly to visit relatives, buy takeout, fly for work, buy more clothes than you need, use straws, use a clothes dryer, leave the air conditioner on when, . . . whatever.

Think of your thoughts when you know you’re polluting but do it anyway. Do you think something like, “I know this pollutes, but”?

What you think next, after “I know it pollutes, but” is the cause of our environmental problems. Things like “I have to for work,” “I care about my family”, “I deserve it”, “nobody will notice”, “what I do doesn’t matter”, and so on.

However much you believe those things when you think them, you don’t need to do the actions you justify with them and you can change those beliefs to create a better life.

You can dance around it all you want, those beliefs cause our polluting behavior. No, it’s not fair that past generations could fly without thinking that their behavior hurt others, but times have changed. Our environmental problems are the physical manifestation of those beliefs. Our culture comprises all those beliefs. You participate in polluting culture when you act on those beliefs. You don’t have to.

You can change your beliefs. When you do, you’ll love life more, connect with humanity, and stop lowering Earth’s ability to sustain life.

• ← Limits to economic growth: A peer-reviewed paper by podcast guest Tom Murphy
• American culture today: “Here’s why I can’t” (especially among conservatives, liberals, and libertarians) →