Debunking the Myth of Green Hero: Aligning Individual Actions with Policies

Turn off the lights, take short showers, and separate your waste—these are some of the actions you may often hear about as ways we, as individuals, can do to save the Earth. There are also popular tools like ecological footprint calculators that measure the environmental impact of our daily choices and guide us to be greener citizens[1].

Footprint Calculator (Image source: Global Footprint Network)

We are often sold the idea that small deeds can lead to great feats. Indeed, there are inspirational stories of how simple acts can sometimes lead to ripples of positive impact. It is also a great way to encourage children to start going green early. But what happens when it is used to blind us to the bigger picture?

A new Australian study, which assessed years of documents from energy market actors, found that the country’s companies and policymakers have been pushing a "net zero hero” narrative—a story of a consumer-turned-climate-warrior who fights against climate change and saves the planet by buying an electric car, monitoring electricity use, switching off unneeded appliances, and such.[2] By emphasising these small-scale efforts, they reframe individuals as key players in emission reduction and undermine the need for systemic change.

The strategy of shifting the responsibility onto citizens is not new. In fact, "The Fraud of Plastic Recycling” report from last year accused the petrochemical and plastic industries of employing the same tactic with plastic waste recycling.[3]Remember ecological footprint? The concept originated from an ecologist, William Rees, but it was co-opted and popularised by BP, an oil giant, to shift focus onto individual emissions rather than systemic issues.[4]

By focusing solely on individual small-scale actions, we set ourselves up for failure by ignoring the greater role and ability that governments and companies have in tackling problems through regulations, infrastructure investments, and industry reforms. It ultimately also leads to disillusionment and apathy when we see our actions failing to visibly address environmental issues, while the big players remain inactive. A particularly relevant example is when trust in Hong Kong’s recycling system was left damaged for over a decade after stories of street cleaners mishandling recyclables emerged.[5]

Recycling stores in Hong Kong (Image source: EPD)

The takeaway from this article is not to give up or stop taking action. Individual efforts are not useless; they have their place as part of the larger solution, building public momentum and support to complement systemic changes. At the same time though, we must also recognise that climate change can’t be solved simply by remembering to turn off our lights without a framework to develop green technologies, facilitate clean energy, and phase out fossil fuels.

The recent surge in Hong Kong’s recycling rate almost perfectly illustrates both sides of this issue.[6]The doubling of plastic recycling showed that government efforts finally paid off with a combination of public outreach and investment in building a community recycling network. However, a deeper look at the actual waste statistics reveals that this increase addresses just a small fraction of the plastic waste Hong Kong generates. Recycling alone cannot replace the need for legislations, such as producer responsibility scheme, to control the many types of disposable plastic products still available on the market.

Quantities of recyclable materials recovered from MSW from 2019 to 2023 (Image source: EPD)

It is tempting to sell the hero narrative. After all, who doesn’t like a good story of a person overcoming great odds? But the reality is that, in many cases, we also need the comprehensive regulatory and industry reforms necessary to address systemic issues. The hero of this journey is not just the everyday citizens, but also the governments and companies making a real impact together.