Why are there so many people who work in the environmental field who don't actually gaf about the environment?
Rant incoming:
Its seems so refreshing to find someone in consulting who is willing to go above mediocrity for the environment, but it's so far and few inbetween. Its always "Well, we have a permit to do X amount of damage so we won't put in any extra effort in to mitigate anymore than that", or "We're just out to make money so we'll execute this project that is obviously going to harm the environment permanently." And nobody bats an eye. I guess not everyone values the environment as much as they value getting a pat on the head from the client. Sure, there are a lot of projects that are doing a lot of good for the environment and that's great 👍, but even some projects that seem like they are doing a lot of good aren't doing as much as they could.
Too often i feel so alone in this feeling. Most of the people I work with just look at me like I have two heads when I say things like, "let's put grout cuttings in a bin instead of on the ground." This is a small example, but it seems like I'm constantly fighting ethical battles and no matter what I say, the corporate robots just rehearse their script in defense.
Nobody is ever taking responsibility for the decisions they are making and they are never looking at the full picture. They're never thinking, "how is this going to affect this community in the future (whether that be people or animals or whatever)." Or if they do, they justify it by saying it won't cause THAT MUCH harm. Why don't we strive to cause as little harm as possible? We should strive to have a nice clean environment to live in and enjoy. Why would we just let our responsibilty as humans to steward the environment slip through the cracks until there's nothing left to enjoy?
Even though it's so draining and oftentimes leaves me feeling defeated, I am going to keep doing this work so I can try to lead by example and challenge others to step up and do the same. I may also start blocking off my calendar quarterly (maybe weekly?) for one day to just have a cry (on company time) to grieve our little habitat here on earth which is the most special place in the universe for us.
If you made it this far, thanks for reading.