Sustainability has become a mainstream topic, with everyone and everything having something to say about it. At a dinner with opinionated friends, someone will inevitably feel the urge to say something smart. Then someone else will follow up with something they read on the internet that contradicts that. And here the discussion begins. But what exactly can you say and do that is truly sustainable? No one really knows. The topic is vast and complex, with a massive scope of accessible information that keeps evolving. These conversations often become judgmental, driven by social pressure to be more sustainable.

Several common perspectives emerge in these discussions. The pessimist believes that nature will self-correct. “Why even bother saving the planet? It deserves to get rid of our species anyway. We bring nothing more than bad things to it.” The ignorant is overwhelmed by the scale of the problem. “Does it even make a difference what I do?” Both feel that sustainability requires effort that is too heavy or complicated for daily life. Green consumers are more optimistic, thinking they can buy their way to a sustainable future with bamboo straws, sustainable petrol, fake meat, and fast fashion. Then there are the nihilists, who believe humans are earth's ultimate criminals and advocate for a dramatic reduction of our human footprint. They often resort to finger-pointing, questioning every aspect of others' lifestyles.

None of these viewpoints are inherently wrong. Striving for a sustainable world is important, no matter the role we take in the conversation. Many have experienced these perspectives personally. There is ignorance, the feeling that sustainability requires major lifestyle changes, and trust in companies' promises to be 'green.' Sustainability is often used by brands to expose their best intentions for the planet, leading to justified but sometimes ineffective purchases. Some might feel like nihilists because they know humans have an immense impact on earth.

This is where a new conversation partner comes in—someone who is not serious at all but is instead busy surfing or skiing. There is too much fuss around this topic, driven by a collective guilt about what we’ve done to the planet. Guilt about plastic waste, dreaming about non-green cars, the things we buy, and the carbon emissions of flights. Calling people out for not doing enough to reduce their environmental impact isn’t the way to make change. We’re all on the same team. We need to escape the perfectionism trap within sustainability, which is more paralyzing and unsustainable than we think.

Nature will take care of itself, but an earth with people is still more beautiful than one without. Organic toothpaste is better for our oceans, but merely consuming eco-products won't save the planet. Adopting a minimalist lifestyle is good, but being ultra-nihilistic robs us of our human sense of worth for objects and places. It makes us rather ignorant of the planet than encourages us to contribute to a better future. It’s not our species that pollutes but our worldview. We need a shift from guilt-driven actions to cultivating a love for nature. This new perspective encourages us to engage with the environment through activities that foster a genuine connection to it.

Have you ever watched a David Attenborough documentary? One of the most famous biologists of our time shows what makes our world worthwhile, rather than teaching and warning us. By feeling passion and joy, we experience what is valuable. We need to derive deep pleasure from experiences in and with nature that have the most capacity to save the planet. What if we left the table and exited the conversation? Go out into the mountains and oceans, enjoying the natural elements instead of having serious conversations about what’s right and wrong. If we don’t know what that world looks, feels, and smells like, what do we want to sustain? Think about high-quality experiences in nature, the ones where you truly feel the rocks with your bare hands, sand between your toes, wind on your face, or the sea salt teasing your eyes.

Loving things comes naturally to us. The power of this ferocious love is what we all inevitably underestimate because no amount of money or smart solution can extinguish it. Humans protect what they love. That’s something we did in history, do now, and will do in the future. But we need to know what we are protecting. For example, no one would donate money to care for a random dog somewhere on the other side of the planet without understanding the cause deeply. It’s hard to truly understand what we fight for if we keep sitting between walls and never truly experience the vague term ‘planet.’ We need to build a personal relationship with it, a way of loving that is easy and human.

The idea of ‘love’ may sound fluffy, but it can take different forms. Forms that are already invented by people who found ways to interact with our earth—mainly in the domain of sports. We can ski, surf, hike, climb, swim, and canoe, to name a few suggestions. Others might find the spark in walking, picnicking, or sunbathing. The point is to understand outdoor activities as a tool for positive change. These already invented ways of interacting with our planet enable us to have high-quality experiences in nature, moments when you feel truly part of what nature really is.

We think we have to be smart to save the planet, but that’s not true. We feel that it’s a lot of effort, but it does not have to be. Or at least not in the beginning. Something only takes effort if it doesn’t come naturally. It’s hard to put effort into protecting something you do not know well. Yes, it is a process. It’s about the order of things, the ripple effect. This sustainable world that is being discussed around the table should be one where we find things to do other than talking so much, finger-pointing, or feeling guilty. Let’s leave the restrictive set of solutions that are the mainstream conversation lines and go have fun.

Creating a sustainable world isn’t simple. It takes a lot to reverse forces, and most outdoor activities harm the natural world. The impact of adventure sports on the environment is another complex issue. But if you see the drive behind outdoor sports in the broader picture, one could argue that the damage is worth it. If the love it generates impacts the hiker to be more careful towards our planet, like building social and political movements that change the rules of the game, or investigating and experimenting on how to invest energy, money, and time.

That already sounds maybe too ambitious. That’s the trap of writing articles like this. Or talking about it around the table. You want to follow the line of thought, solve problems that might not need that level of understanding – that troubled mindset. That’s why saving the planet should not be or sound complicated and hard. Because the more engaged you are with the external world, the more you find ways to enjoy it, the more you are naturally driven and motivated to protect it. People will find their authentic way of saving the planet when they start to love it more deeply. Ways of saving the planet we may not even be able to imagine now.

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