WOODSIDE — Generation Z is referred to by some because the “sustainability generation” – they’re more willing to pay a premium for environmentally friendly products and more prone to make purchasing decisions that consider their personal, social and environmental values.
Some studies show that they’ve scored above average by way of their concern for the environment. A world survey by international marketing company Kadence states: 82% of Generation Z Respondents expressed concern concerning the state of the planet and 72% said that they had proactively modified their behavior to cut back their environmental impact. Deloitte's “Survey on Generation Z and Millennials 2024” stated that “many are actively trying to align their careers and consumer behavior with their environmental values.”
But the image is rather more complex, as a conversation with among the most passionate and energetic environmental activists at a Bay Area highschool shows.
Gen Z—those born between 1997 and 2010—grew up in a world full of knowledge and convenience. Students at Woodside High School in an affluent area of San Mateo County know the hazards of plastic and are grumpy about not with the ability to avoid it. But they’ll't imagine a world without plastic—and so they know they've gotten used to it, perhaps to their very own detriment.
“I just use [plastic] excessive, and I'm in the green club. I studied environmental science, and I still use way too much plastic – for example, I order clothes online, from Amazon, get food delivered, or go to a store and need groceries, but half of it is plastic, and I consciously try not to buy things that have plastic in them, but it still happens to me,” said Kyla Burfoot, who will graduate from Woodside High School in 2024 and plans to study cognitive science at UC Berkeley this fall.
Earlier this year, the Green Party's Environmental Club met for its weekly meeting in Ann Akey's Advanced Placement Environmental Science (APES, as it's called) classroom. The group – represented on this day by eight young women – regularly participates in environmental activities, such as the occasional beach cleanup, but also makes an effort to educate peers and the community about plastic and recycling.
For example, the club has formed a small “watch committee” whose job it’s to hang around on the trash cans during lunch and help other students determine which of the three trash cans – landfill, recycling and compost – they need to throw their trash in.
“So we stand there and when someone desires to throw away a chunk of trash, we ask them, 'Hey, do you realize which trash can to throw it in?' If they know, they get a chunk of candy. If not, we teach them,” says Jessica Lin, another 2024 graduate who plans to go to UC Berkeley in the fall to study clinical psychology and biology.
“And whenever you, as a student, see other students fascinated about what they throw away after we've helped them and educated them, it's really impressive. It's also inspiring since it shows that change is feasible,” she added.
Unlike previous generations, environmental competence has been an integral part of the Green Party’s education since they started school.
“I believe our generation is pretty much informed because they’re aware of the environmental crisis,” Burfoot said. But, she added, education is pointless if people are not able to put what they learn into action.
“When I’m going to the shop, I need to purchase fresh produce and stuff,” said Kate O'Toole, who was set to attend New York University in the fall to study film and television. “But I can't do this. I can't buy a pack of raspberries without also buying the plastic packaging they're in. It's so difficult to avoid plastic. Even if we try, we will't control what's in our Amazon package – like all of the plastic packaging or the large, massive box that has somewhat notebook in it.”
Her comment led the group to discuss the convenience of plastic in their lives and its ubiquity.
“I believe most of us are used to it,” Lin said. “When I used to be a child, my parents would often take us to the beach. And while I used to be playing, they’d say, 'Go over there or to this part, there's not as much plastic washing up there.' Or my mom would say, 'Okay, let's pick up some stuff.' I believe lots of us are only used to it. It's not prefer it wasn't there after which it was there. It was at all times there.”
The students say they have never known a world in which the plants, grass and soil along highways were not covered in plastic. Or an ocean in which animals did not suffocate and die from plastic.
They also don't know a world where you can't order something from Amazon and have it on your doorstep the next day. Try scrolling through the TikTok store, Lin said. That “alone is addictive. But then there are these ads where you possibly can buy something super low cost and have it delivered right to your door.”
In fact, price and convenience are very important to many young consumers. A report by McKenzie & Co. states that according to a recent survey, “the current cost of living crisis (that big inflation monster just won’t stop) is undermining Generation Z’s willingness to buy sustainable products,” which “often come with a higher price tag.”
Of course, such reports do not take into account the fact that while privileged people have the ability to make such decisions, there are many who do not. And in most cases, it is these people who will be most affected and suffer the effects of climate change. Research has shown repeatedly that marginalized groups are more affected by heatwaves, extreme weather events, wildfires, work disruptions and environmental degradation.
Lin acknowledges some of the challenges of being a consumer in 2024. “I believe convenience is powerful, and folks idiot themselves into considering they’ll recycle the items which can be packaged in plastic. But they really can't. But they persuade themselves they’ll, throw the items within the recycling bin, and move on,” she says.
Burfoot agreed, saying this was one of the things her generation had also perfected: dissociation.
“We know plastic is bad. If we’ve a alternative, we try to seek out alternatives without plastic,” she said. But they also can't shake the instant gratification of Amazon and TikTok.
Companies and politicians, say the Greens, need to make a lot more effort. “I mean, regardless of how lots of us grow to be vegan or stop eating beef, thousands and thousands of pieces of waste are still being dumped into the oceans by firms,” said Burfoot.
“Ultimately, convenience is what keeps it alive, but soon we'll realise how inconvenient it actually is,” Burfoot said. “In 20 years, once we're all literally manufactured from plastic ourselves,” people might start to change their minds.
And Burfoot and her classmates place all the blame squarely on the older generations.
“I'm growing up in a world that I didn't create and I feel like there are particular inequalities – the older generations hope we figure it out, but I believe it's as much as them to bridge that gap and do their part to make this world livable for us and our kids in the longer term,” she said.
And governments must give people the opportunity to choose an alternative lifestyle that does not involve plastic, said several Greens.
“I believe there are ideas which can be really good for sustainability,” Lin said. “But they should not at all times feasible in our society and on this economic environment. Sustainable living costs money and it shouldn't.”
Maybe, they said, if business leaders and government officials sorted through all the garbage themselves and saw all the useless waste from disposable Starbucks cups or energy shots, they would understand better.
“If you might be empathetic and compassionate, you possibly can put yourself in other people's shoes and in addition within the shoes of your kids and grandchildren,” Lin said. “You need to put yourself in other people's shoes.”
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