You go into a café and order a classic coffee latte. Instead of asking if you want to add an extra shot, the barista asks if you want to round up and compensate for the climate because you chose cow's milk, which has a greater climate impact than other alternatives. You go on to the grocery store, where it does not say organic on any goods because it is the new obvious, the "usual". Instead, other options end up in the shadows, with only a few symbolic products to choose from. A little secluded you will find "conventional apples", "old-grown lemon" and "unfair coffee". When a Swedish grocery store a few years ago displayed conventional bananas as "sprayed bananas", the choice became obvious for many to choose the organic alternative. This shows that we constantly need clear reminders of the consequences of our choices in everyday life.
In the shops, we are now asked if we want a plastic bag and then have to pay for it. At the same time, many stores are already witnessing a sharp reduction in the consumption of plastic bags. When we get the question, we stop and think. What has previously been obvious is being questioned, in favor of more climate-smart choices.
When I was in India, the restaurant menus consisted mostly of vegetarian options. Meat varieties often ended up at the bottom of the page, with few choices and a bit in the shadows. As is often the case in Sweden, but on the contrary, with vegetarian alternatives that almost feel a bit forced. By emphasizing more sustainable vegetarian alternatives, it also felt obvious to choose it and almost a bit ugly to even glance at the meat dishes.
I do not think that a change in behavior towards a more climate-friendly lifestyle need be neither difficult nor radical. Given how many thousands of small decisions the brain makes every day, I am convinced that we act a lot at ease and according to norm, to facilitate and relieve the brain. Therefore, we need handrails that can show the direction and make it easier for people to "choose the right" gby changing the starting position for what is the normal image. By changing the norm, and constantly putting the climate-smart alternatives in the first place, we can gradually change, with the help of a small push in the right direction.
This is a chronicle. The author is responsible for analysis and opinions in the text.
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