There is no sustainability without inclusion

Did you know that July is Disability Pride Month? Me neither.

When it comes to sustainability there is still a long way to go to be inclusive. I’ve had conversations with people with disabilities who are negatively impacted by the loss of bendable plastic straws. Straight straws and no straws are both much harder for them to use. There is also a conversation to be had about how we could combine sustainability retrofits with accessibility retrofits. So from seemingly small to quite large, sustainability needs to be inclusive. Unfortunately, as with so many topics we tend to pursue both of these areas of need independently.

Salkeld (2016) examined UK sustainability policy and how policy was made and found that individuals with disabilities were rarely part of planning and decision making. This is problematic because any changes made, such as the recent bylaw in my city banning many types of single use plastics, will have an impact on individuals with disabilities.

An important component is ensuring that a wide range of individuals with disabilities are involved. What matters to one person might not be relevant for the next. Therefore, it is at society’s loss that we would consult a single individual and assume that they represent the entire population.

There is a flip side to this as well. Individuals who have already adopted many aspects of sustainable lifestyles can be judgemental over someone who has not. This judgement does not welcome others into pursuing sustainable lifestyles, even if they are interested.

I often say that we need everyone to feel that they are part of sustainability. This includes individuals with disabilities. So the next time you advocate for a change or critique someone for how they are doing something, take a quick look, are there multiple voices of people who have experience and knowledge of multiple types of disabilities and is their participation authentic rather than a tick in a box?