The Sustainable Power of Refusal and Rest

The Sustainable Power of Refusal and Rest

This week, in light of MLK Day, I’ve been thinking about resistance. About refusal and rebellion. About the revolutionary power of civil disobedience and “inaction.”

I’ve been thinking about the ways our systems have evolved to keep us moving, growing, buying, acquiring. How none of that is sustainable. How what the world needs is for us to stop. To resist. To refuse. To sit in. To lie down. To give it all a rest.

If change feels like an uphill battle, remember that you can move forward without actually moving much at all. Think of Rosa Parks sitting down or southern Black college students sitting in. A mindset of rejection and a default of refusal can go a very long way.

Refuse the plastic silverware that’s offered you. Turn down the bottled water. Give back the plastic bag. Leave the clamshell at the grocery store. Make things last for longer than they’re meant to. Spend more time with people and less money on things. Sleep more and scroll less. Trade and borrow and share. Reject, as often as you can, a system built on the exploitation of labor, of people, and of the planet. Show the world you are done with the waste these systems create.

Part of sustainability is learning to do more with less. But we also need to just do less.

Resist the mindset that says you need more.

Remind yourself that refusing and reducing means you don't need to figure out how to reuse or recycle.

Reclaim your right to dream of a better world.

Rethink. Remember. Relearn. Resist. Reset. 

Rest. 

-Justine

Recommended Reading/Listening

Rest Is Resistance: Free Yourself from Grind Culture and Reclaim Your Life, by Tricia Hersey

How to Think About Rest as a Form of Resistance, NPR interview with Tricia Hersey

Back to blog