Doomsday and Gen Z’s urgency to act
Gen Z is responding to the planet’s rapidly changing climate by committing their lives to finding a solution, changing their career trajectories and lifestyles in the process. Young people are incorporating climate-conscious behaviors into their day-to-day lives, including eco-friendly diets — buying “ugly foods” in the store or opting out of meat — and choosing environmentally conscious employers to work for and brands to support. Gen Z’s focus on climate and environmental action is a long-haul effort. It’s a noted shift from their older peers, who time and again are seen as less concerned over the demise of the planet — but Gen Z will be around much longer.
Witnessing the realities of climate change, from flooding to other natural disasters, is what Gen Z has grown up with. It’s no wonder the threat of climate inaction is a major cause of concern for Gen Z. Globally, three-quarters of young people are alarmed about their future due to climate change. While Gen Z is working hard to take action on the climate, they are also showing clear stress from the responsibility on their shoulders. As they struggle to save the planet, even amid a laissez-faire attitude from politicians and Boomers, Gen Z will have to show as much concern for their individual health as for climate stress. Gen Z has spearheaded eco-anxiety into the mainstream, changing perceptions of mental health from organizations to the therapy room.
Even among conservative-leaning Gen Zers, nearly half say action to reduce the effects of climate change needs to be prioritized, even if that means fewer resources to deal with other important problems, according to Pew Research.
The need to address the resounding climate alarm is affecting Gen Z career choices. College campuses across the country are now finding new ways to help students integrate climate studies across various disciplines, and in M.B.A. courses, classes about climate finance, impact investing and social entrepreneurship are among the most popular.
Gen Z fuels environmentally unfriendly industries
Sure, Gen Z is eco-conscious and they are among the most vocal activists when it comes to taking firm climate action. The crux of the matter, however, is that many lifestyle and consumption habits of Gen Z feed into industries that are actively detrimental to the environment, such as their love of fast fashion to supporting beauty business icons like Kylie Jenner. From their lifestyle choices to financial ones, young people are driving cryptocurrencies or NFTs, but their environmental effects are just starting to be discussed. And Gen Z’s nonstop connectivity and streaming habits online contribute to a skyrocketing digital carbon footprint. Gen Z’s streaming, chatting, TikToking, and Twitching add up. Data storage on the Cloud has a greater carbon footprint than the airline industry, revealed an MIT Schwarzman College of Computing study.
When it comes to saving the planet, Gen Z is loudly aspirational, but the realities of how they live and consume tells another story.
It’s what they wear, too. Although “reloved or reused” clothing has a firm hold on Gen Z style, particularly in U.S. and Nordic countries, Gen Z still maintains a taste for environmentally unfriendly fast fashion. Chinese retailer Shein, a fast fashion brand, became one of the most downloaded fashion apps in the U.S., surpassing Amazon last year. The brand’s clothing items are priced around $30 or less, to the delight of cash-strapped Gen Zers, who have helped make Shein one of the most talked-about brands on TikTok and YouTube around the world.
Gen Z’s viewing habits are adding up to environmentally unfriendly digital footprints. Data from the U.S. Media Consumption Report 2021 reveals that 33 percent of Gen Z scroll social media for more than four hours a day, while 44 percent say they stream video content for more than three hours a day, with another 15 percent of Gen Z admitting to Netflixing for more than five hours a day.
Eco-conscious consumption does play into Gen Z’s shopping decisions, and also what they expect of others, from brands to employers. While research suggests that over half of Gen Z (54%) are willing to pay more for sustainable products, their habits may well cancel out their environmentally conscious efforts in the end.
