Sustainability and the Collective Action Problem

Bringing you a break from your regularly scheduled content to talk about sustainability and the collective action problem.

I studied political science in college and one of the things we learn about is the prolific existence of the collective action problem everywhere in politics.

It’s pretty common when it comes to why people don’t vote, which is that they think one in a million won’t matter. Essentially, the collective action problem is thinking one piece of the puzzle won’t affect the whole. My vote won’t make a difference. So, yeah, but if 300 million people think that, the other side will win for sure. It’s pure self-interest without thinking about joint cooperation.

I’ve been thinking a lot about that when it comes to sustainability. The reason why I started this blog is because to me it felt like there is so much all or nothing in our lives when it comes to being more sustainable. The reality is, we can’t do it all. Eating completely local all the time? Expensive. No travel? Unlikely. Putting in solar? Not if you’re renting most likely! Also expensive.

We need solutions that work for all of us that won’t either break the bank or be completely unrealistic in the long run.

Because when it comes to sustainability, the collective action problem means we throw in the towel and quit every small effort because we think we don’t matter. That our small actions don’t matter. Well, we do matter.

So maybe its reusing plastic bags many times over, or getting into compost. Whatever works for you, that’s all we can do.