In a world now cognizant of the importance of sustainability, a new breed of internet trolls has emerged — eco-trolls. These trolls stake out social media and are poised to cancel anyone who dares to use a plastic bag or cup.
This is where these trolls expose their ignorance of the matter. The drive towards net zero is not only about eliminating the use of products (or activities) that produce CO2 emission — this is because literally everything we do in our lives produce CO2 emissions. Everything from eating meat or sending an email produces CO2 emissions.
The drive towards net-zero is therefore a scientific concept about balancing our CO2 footprint. This balancing is done by reducing our production of CO2 while simultaneously increasing the removal of CO2 through actions like planting trees or producing renewable energy.
Hence, canceling someone for using a single-use plastic bag is (a) unfair because it does not take into account if the individual is compensating for the use of the plastic bag in another way; and is (b) hypocritical as the troll themselves are not doing anything to balance their own CO2 emissions and are hence guilty of producing more CO2 emission than those they troll.
In fact, in cities like Singapore, scientists have found that single-use plastic bags (made from high-density polyethylene plastic) have a lower environmental footprint than single-use paper and multi-use cotton bags. This counter-intuitive finding is based on a circular economy and applies to cities that incinerate their wastes.
So, the next time you are tempted to troll someone about their use of plastic, do remember that sustainability is not about plastic bags and cups, it is about balancing our carbon footprint.
