"Eco Friendly" Trends that Aged TERRIBLY (2016 vs 2026)
266K views · Mar 4, 2026 · Howto & Style
Comments · 459
@23geg · 6 months ago
Great video! I remember pre-pandemic the phrase "we don't need a few people doing zero-waste perfectly, we need millions of people doing it imperfectly." Thanks for describing your journey and encouraging people to look at the bigger picture and do the less visible work of advocacy and community resilience!
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@benpeter7016 · 6 months ago
in 2016, I was a drug addict. I couldn't have cared less for sustainablility and I spent most my days in hospitals. Now, I'm an activist, sober for 9 years, and very proud to have come such a long way to not only care about myself enough to not destroy me, but to care deeply about the planet and other people too
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@makaveli0_0 · 6 months ago
the phrase “environmentalism w/o class srruggle is just gardening” has shaped my politics behind sustainability so much. especially after learning the term “ecological footprint” was coined by BP oil… as in the company responsible for the gulf oil spill. it was a strategic marketing campaign to turn environmentalism and sustainability into a “individual” problem to get ppl to focus on themselves rather than these large corporate conglomerates who are largely responsible for the climate crisis. i argued so many times w my env. bio. prof. abt this lol
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@hollandsdolland · 6 months ago
I remember watching that jar video in my 6th grade class. I felt so guilty and hopeless because I couldn’t do that, my family couldn’t just switch to having no waste. I was an 11 year old who couldn’t even convince my parents to recycle more. So I didn’t even bother trying because I thought sustainability was only for rich adults who lived in big cities, not lower income kids like me in rural communities. <br><br>I am really grateful for how the movement has evolved. As I have become an adult I have realized how sustainable my parents actually were, despite how “unglamorous” or imperfect it looked compared to the 2016 standard. They composted and avoided food waste. They bought mostly second hand and repaired before buying new. They have always used more sustainable energy methods in the home and prioritized avoiding fossil fuels. They used energy conservation and avoided water waste. They built community and were active in making changes. They pushed back against capitalism and made sure that life was more than just buying stuff. They gave me such a strong foundation to build on and become stronger in my sustainability journey, and I am still learning from them as they implement more environmentally friendly practices and working on small changes I can make in my life now. All of this WAS and IS true environmentalism, albeit imperfect, but it mattered so much more than any aesthetic photo spread.
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@Danina_ · 6 months ago
The way you described how you were doing zero waste as an anxiety coping mechanism, because it's something you can control, is actually a pretty common reason people fall into eating disorders! I just thought it was interesting because a lot of disordered eating also comes from a mind set of having to be perfect in some way and the all or nothing mentality you describe for sustainability at the time is also very similar!
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@Donuts1231 · 6 months ago
Not the cocoa powder for bronzer 😂😭
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@christines-corner · 6 months ago
I feel like 2016-2019 was when extreme minimalism completely took over. You were straight up shamed for having anything more than a floor bed and a couple changes of clothes. I think the shift now is more you can enjoy things, decorate your home, have belongings that hold sentimental value to you.. but you can do so sustainably and mindfully.
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@LiminalLilly · 6 months ago
I totally noticed that once COVID hit in 2020, ALL the zero waste concerns went absolutely out the window. Everything was EXTRA packaged in order to be "germ-free." The bag came in a bag! Then the masks and plastic gloves became street litter😢
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@Oiiaiioiiai · 6 months ago
I work in recycling, and we get a lot of people who are upset that we don’t accept certain items for recycling (ex. LED and incandescent lightbulbs). While I understand their frustration, oftentimes it seems that they feel guilty about producing waste, and want to push the blame onto someone else to lighten their conscience.
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@sir9integra9jr · 6 months ago
dude the DIYing was the worst 😭 i DIYed my toothpaste at the time and did the baking soda and apple cider vinegar instead of shampoo thing (I have very oily hair) and it was AWFUL. It was honestly just so massively exhausting that it burned me out and I fell of the train during covid. I'm getting back on now and I am so much happier with the state of the movement now. Instead of obsessing about every scrap of packaging, I focus most of my effort on shopping local, eating sustainably, and buying secondhand almost exclusively. So much more sustainable in every sense of the word!
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@gwendolynleandra5079 · 6 months ago
Lmao. Yes! 2016/2017 was literally insane. I used to make my laundry detergent & would hand scrub all of my clothes in my bathtub! Nothing was ever clean.
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@Kayla_P99 · 6 months ago
Honestly, I started watching you probably about 2016 and stopped for a little because of the perfectionism. I came back and realized you were being a lot more nuanced and it feels more like I can do something and be okay.
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