Author: mossmintteal

Education for people no matter their gender, indigenous land rights, roofs with freaking plants on them and farms that restore the health of the soil…these all sound like a nightmarish form of deprivation, right? 

Actually, these are some of the actual solutions proposed to help counter the effects of climate change. 

Climate action is often framed as a form of deprivation, in terms of the things that we need to give up in order to reduce our impact. However, that perspective is one that doesn’t account for all the things that humans and other beings around the world stand to gain in the process of climate action. 

That “deprivation” perspective comes from those who feel threatened.

Climate action is often framed as deprivation because a relatively small fraction of the population might need to temper their expectations of what their wealth should be able to buy them. Meanwhile, people around the world — women, indigenous peoples, children who will have to inhabit the planet in the coming decades — stand to gain so much. 

Climate advocacy threatens a small fraction of people who then in turn convince the rest of us that climate action is a sacrifice that isn’t worth making.

However, most of us stand to benefit from climate action, whether that’s through cleaner air, healthier food, or even more equitable economic opportunities. 

(And for the small fraction of people who might need to take a little less, it’s not a sacrifice — it’s not a sacrifice if it was gained thanks to privilege. It’s finally making things right.)

So let’s focus on the jobs created by solar installation or on the holy crap oh-so-delicious butternut squash soup that we can chug with impunity — let’s not allow ourselves to get sucked into the idea that climate action is only about giving things up.

Let’s explore how we can spend the money that we need to spend in our daily lives in a way that enriches all of us and focus on everything that the vast majority of the world’s population stands to gain.

What the term “personal finance” is missing

We often hear how “personal finance is personal,” but what about when it really isn’t just personal?

The term “personal finance” (and much of the advice around it) tends to assume individual control. Things like spending, saving, and earning, and the assumption that our choices will only affect us or our immediate household.

But what about when our finances are also deeply impacted by intergenerational models of wealth, perceptions of race, and other systems out of our control?

Read the rest at Money After Graduation!

Some days I hate my body and my mind.

They whisper, “We’re tired.”

And I yell back, “FUCK YOU.”

But on other days, I walk.

I walk miles and miles instead of taking the car or all the other machines with wheels around me. 

I walk and walk and come home at night and scribble in my agenda about how grateful I am for these healthy legs, these full lungs, for right now. 

I know that some day, the inevitable stiff knees that I’ve watched everyone before me succumb to, whether they worked in the fields or sat in an office chair, might come for me too. 

I know that a momentary slip and a broken hip might leave me stuck in bed forever, or that tomorrow it might be just feel too hard to stand up even if I’m not broken yet.

And so today, I walk. 

I know that definitely, in not too many months, the blizzards and ice will come again.

That just because I know how to walk now doesn’t mean I won’t have to learn again. 

I watch how a neighborhood over and across the world it doesn’t feel safe enough to walk.

I try to stand up from the grass and worry that I can already feel the stiffness creeping. And Google if I can still dance if it does. 

I walk for me in fifty years who might need to spring for a Lyft (or whoever’s running the autonomous pods by then).

I walk for those who can’t leave home. 

I walk for my Earth, telling myself that even though the tiny sigh of carbon that I’m saving isn’t nearly enough, at least I’m connecting with her through inches of rubber and miles of concrete. 

I could add up how much I’m saving on a bus ride or how much I’m losing by walking instead of working.

And then compound those both ways, losing on credit or gaining in my bank account.

I could track the calories I burn or the ones I gain from that inevitable pizza slice I grab from a hole in the wall spot. 

The micrograms of Vitamin D I’m getting or the nanometers the sun is adding to the fine lines on my face.

The inches on my waist or the words I jot down in my phone at crosswalks or the emissions I’m avoiding, because sometimes, blessedly, the things that are good for me might also be good for my planet.

Sometimes it’s all aligned.

Sometimes nothing I do will help.

But today I can walk. And so I also walk for me.

Like a lot of folks, I’ve gotten sucked into reading about Elizabeth Holmes and Anna Delvey. Part of that, I’m sure, is the fact that we relish witnessing women in the midst of a catastrophic fail (which is a super crappy tendency to have…).

But while I was reading their stories, I was morbidly fascinated by how were they able to get away with so much and how easily we’re deceived by unsubstantiated markers of wealth or expertise.

Let’s be real though, I was also left wondering if a person of color could have been as successful. 

After all, PoC can’t “get away” with everyday activities like sleeping in a dorm common area.

Or sitting in a Starbucks.

Or touring a college.

I’m all for taking risks to get places, especially when it comes to entrepreneurship. But the reality is, some people are rewarded more for those risks than others.

Continue reading “Everyone’s Roulette Wheel Looks a Little Different”

Musings on the homogeneity of Pride, the imagery of Black Panther, and the unreasonableness of wearing freaking suits near the Equator

When I was living abroad, I remember being around for Pride. I was struck both by how beautiful it was to see all that rainbow, but also by a bittersweet question: 

what would the imagery of pride have looked like if it had evolved locally, instead of folks around the world all adopting the same aesthetic that had started in San Francisco? 

I was reminded of all this again while watching Black Panther and getting to see what clothing and architecture and technology could all look like if they emerged locally and organically. 

I loved seeing the kinds of shapes in cities that were created away from the overwhelming influence of rectangular, shiny glass skyscrapers.

It also made me start to wonder all over again why professionals in hot climates need to conform to wearing suits and ties and those polyester socks that smell SO BAD when you take them out of your patent leather shoes at the end of the day?

This isn’t just a question of like sticking it to the colonizers and mourning futures that never happened; this desire to conform to a single aesthetic can have real financial and environmental costs too. 

Continue reading “Would a world with locally driven “development” be “greener” and cheaper?”

One of the themes that I wanted to explore with this blog is the link between personal finance and sustainability.

But what do they have to do with each other anyway?

Aside from issues like the impacts of consumption on our wallets and planet, there’s also the question of what we can do, especially when it comes to personal action.

Here are the only two things we need to know to change behavior: We need to set up barriers for bad behavior and reduce the friction for good behaviors.

What does that mean? Let’s look at some examples: Continue reading “The only two things you need to know to save your wallet (and maybe the planet?)”

Hi!

Welcome to Moss Mint Teal (not gonna lie, way too proud of the cleverness of that blog title…).

We’re going to explore the intersections of sustainability and personal finance, while acknowledging the impacts of the bodies we inhabit.

What does that mean? For example, the level of frugality and “sustainable living” possible can vary depending on factors like weight, race, or gender:

Thrifting can be difficult when looking for plus-sized clothing.

Some workplaces can tell employees they can’t wear dreadlocks, removing a natural hairstyle option for those who want it.

Walking instead of taking a cab is more difficult after being conditioned to be concerned with physical safety, especially at night.

Whether or not a person’s body is considered to be the “default” or “high-maintenance” can influence the ability to eliminate expenses or even live more sustainably. And that’s not even getting into barriers to earning more. Continue reading “Three Shades of Green”