Why does self-care = overconsumption? Isaias Hernandez (aka @queerbrownvegan) discusses the relationship between human and animal injustices, how queerness and diversity are inherent in nature, the danger of perfectionism in the zero-waste movement, and how you may already be practicing conscious consumerism without knowing it.
We also discuss /
LINKS / Find more about Isaias at...
QueerBrownVegan website
@queerbrownvegan on IG
MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE...
Educational .pdf with Sara Mendes
Earth Emotions by Glenn Albrecht (book)
Prentis Hemphill + Finding our Way (podcast)
The Climate Scale (post)
FREE RESOURCES
~free~ class on How to Not Need Instagram (+ why you don't need more followers)
FREE prompts for January's astrology
STAY CONNECTED
Join our FREE online ~private~ community
Mary Grace's website
Why does self-care = overconsumption? Isaias Hernandez (aka @queerbrownvegan) discusses the relationship between human and animal injustices, how queerness and diversity are inherent in nature, the danger of perfectionism in the zero-waste movement, and how you may already be practicing conscious consumerism without knowing it.
We also discuss /
LINKS / Find more about Isaias at...
QueerBrownVegan website
@queerbrownvegan on IG
MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE...
Educational .pdf with Sara Mendes
Earth Emotions by Glenn Albrecht (book)
Prentis Hemphill + Finding our Way (podcast)
The Climate Scale (post)
FREE RESOURCES
~free~ class on How to Not Need Instagram (+ why you don't need more followers)
FREE prompts for January's astrology
STAY CONNECTED
Join our FREE online ~private~ community
Mary Grace's website
My name is Mary Grace and this is the home body podcast. And here we're exploring the home as a body and body as a home. I host spiritually and artfully minded conversations on embodiment on approaching life is practice, artistic collaboration and experiment. We'll talk about healing, art, aesthetics, magic, the practices we can bring to hone our intuition and live our life fully awake with our power in tact. My hope is to encourage and enliven you, and to also cultivate awareness and freedom. We're here to develop wisdom and self trust and to be dynamic agents of beauty. We're here to design and be more intentional with the creation of our life. And we are here to make room for inquiry, sensitivity and joy. Thank you for listening.
Isaias Hernandez:We see this informative self care to write self care I used to think like, go take yourself on a date, go buy yourself food, go buy this, buy this buy this and so why is it that though care has to be rooted in overconsumption.
mary grace allerdice:Hello, and welcome to this week's episode of The homebody podcast. I'm your host, Mary Grace. And today, I'm sharing with you a conversation with our guests ACS Hernandez who is queer brown vegan in the world of the internet. And we talk about many things today that I think are really important and that I care about deeply. They say us does an amazing, amazing job breaking down a lot of complex topics that make up our systemic environmental issues. And you share us really thoughtfully and also kindly from his own experiences and research. He talks about growing up amidst blatant environmental racism, and also growing up as a holistic learner, which is part of what motivated him to pursue environmental education in the first place. Before we jump into today's episode, I want to let you know about a couple of gifts that you can get for free, the first of which is a free pdf of prompts that I put together each month to help you navigate and personalize this month's astrology and the transits so that you're really getting them in a way that helps you reflect and also kind of lay out your month in a way that feels very simple. And like you don't necessarily have to understand all the ins and outs of astrology in order to benefit from this resource. So it's a way to help you tune in with your own center and also what's going on in the cosmic weather and navigate from that intersection. There's also a link below for a free class I taught a couple of weeks ago on why you don't need to rely only on Instagram for your business or your side hustle or your freelance gigs, your creative project, whatever it is, and potentially why it's not a good idea to only rely on Instagram for those things. In the class, I also share a little bit about why I stopped using it. And even if you really love it, and it's amazing resource and you're having an amazing experience on the platform. There are some reasons why I think it could be really wise to have a backup plan or some things that are a little more sustainable, and a little more under your own creative control and in your own voice. So if you're interested in that, if that's something that you would like to know more about, there's a free link to that class below and you can soak it up and let me know what you think. And so back to our guest, I say us Hernandez is an environmental sustainable educator and runs the page queer brown vegan that discusses a range of environmental topics, he seeks to provide a safe space for other like minded environmentalists to engage in the discourse of the current climate crisis by making creative and accessible resources and conversations. Today, we talk about how it is communities who create change more than institutions, how queerness informs his understanding of the natural world and how he approaches environmental issues. And he also lays out how to begin to think about zero waste and its systemic issues and how perfectionism can sometimes get in the way of our necessary conversations that we need to have around in reducing our environmental impact. Something that I really loved that we took some time to break down as well is that a is introduces he introduced me anyways to the climate scale, which is a spectrum of emotions that talk about climate, mental health so that we're able to be a little more investigative and compassionate with ourselves and knowing where we are on this scale with how we're relating to our environment and what that means. So be sure to also grab their free PDF below that created along with Sarah Mendez, that is a really helpful and artful ebook with beautiful illustrations and it's just a helpful roadmap overall to introducing environmental trends. And it can be a really great, helpful resource to get started on this journey and navigating with a little more grace and knowledge. It's free on his website, and there's a link right to it below in the show notes. If you enjoyed the episode, share it with someone who needs it. And be sure to check out all the links and resources below. And now we're going to dive into this conversation with Sal Hernandez of queer brown vegan. Enjoy. So I let people start normally by introducing themselves because I think that people are just so much better at knowing and sharing what they do in the world and who they are. And then I am so do you mind sharing that with us?
Isaias Hernandez:Yeah. Hi, everyone. My name is Isaias Hernandez. And I'm an environmental sustainable educator, I run the page crew around vegan, where I discuss a multitude of environmental topics that range from environmental justice, veganism, zero waste, and part of the work I do is to create visual colorful and engaging graphics that necessarily provide forms of accessible information that necessarily one doesn't need to attend institution to learn this type of knowledge. And so part of as an environmental educator, I really believe that environmental education should be a human right, and that everyone should have access to these types of information during the discourse of the current climate crisis.
mary grace allerdice:Beautiful. I want to back up a little bit to hear more about your timeline and how you found yourself here. How would you describe your relationship to the environment to ecology kind of over the course of your life? Like how did you first realize that there was a relationship there? And then kind of describing that relationship for us to this current moment?
Isaias Hernandez:Yeah, I think for me, it started just growing up in Los Angeles. And so my parents had immigrated to the United States in the 1980s, from Mexico. And so we lived in affordable housing my whole life, and my own community experience, environmental and justices. And so necessarily for me growing up, I realized that a lot of the air quality, the own community where I lived in was low income, very bad air quality. And I had these questions growing up, like, why is it that when I go to the other school that is more affluent? My friends have like all these x resources, why is it that they don't have to care? And kind of it was normalized to live in these environments. And so I think I had a lot of questions, just understanding and I was exposed to ecology, like ocean cleanups, and like gardening, when I grew up, grew up, and going and field trips. And I remember how I really painted my own experiences growing up, and just wanting to engage and learn more about it. It wasn't until high school that I did an environmental research report, where I realized that the facilities I live nearby, there are six of them. That were you would say, quote, unquote, reported over threshold safe levels of missions. And so from the years of the 1980s, up to the late 2000 10s, they had this record of having to reduce their emissions, because all of these emissions were toxic and commercialized. And so it kind of made me question why no one had talked about it. And so the discussion between environment, race and class are sometimes seen as controversial or seen as things you don't want to talk about. And that led me to get my degree in environmental science, because I realized the importance to understand science to provide that backup information to validate my own experiences. But unfortunately, I think what I realized in academics is that it's very elitist, it was very condescending. And so I realized that after getting my degree, I also had this privilege of like, you know, I can't enter back my community thinking and everything, when the community already knew that they were experiencing these injustices. And so I think for me, I realized that the power of education, what it really empowered me when I was younger, had I had access had I had a mentor had I had someone that looked like me to explain these topics, and it would have really validated all my lived experiences, dealing with environmental racism, but necessarily I went through this whole route to understand what I wanted to do. And now, career round vegan is kind of a product of that resilience or what you would say a form of protest of what I do in my work today.
mary grace allerdice:Thank you for sharing that. I'm curious as to for people who may not know what environmental racism means. Would you mind defining that for And if there were ways besides, you know, noticing the air quality in your neighborhood growing up that, you know, those affected your life directly, or ways that you see it really affecting people's lives directly, and now in your role as an educator.
Isaias Hernandez:So I think like the most simplest way to look at environmental racism is to describe like the policies and practices that are in place in those city environments that disproportionately affect low income, majority black indigenous people of color. And so what research has shown is that, with environmental racism, it looks at a multitude of different reasons whether you have contaminated soil, you have contaminated water, or you have contaminated air quality. But also if you're living nearby, a toxic facility, this can look as a waste incinerator, a commercialized industry, a car battery, industry, and or show oil refineries. And so all of these industries are always located in low income communities. And so the argument has always been that the environment can't be racist. But this is the the people who design these environments, the people who design these housing, zoning laws have restricted low income by POC individuals to prevent them from accessing different types of neighborhoods. And that goes into systemic racism and how does unfortunately, you know, white folks have discriminated against black and brown folks who enter their communities. And so necessarily, for those who want to learn more, I question them to us like, the is your community have talked to care? Or do you have access to clean water and give access to clean soil? And if you don't have access to at least one, then you're probably experiencing environmental and justices. And so I think that people are tend to blame the low income people be like, Well, it's because you're poor, and you contaminate everything. But it's necessarily you know, low income folks are the ones producing the less emissions and climate change. And it says, it's a corporation, the industries that are emitting the most toxic pollutions in those cities unnecessarily, then we get blamed of, Oh, it's because you're dirty, you don't take care of your community, but we don't have those resources to build an infrastructure or hold these corporations accountable. Because they know, a lot of us don't have access to those resources or funds to even do this.
mary grace allerdice:Right, or the agency.
Isaias Hernandez:Exactly. Yeah,
mary grace allerdice:that makes sense. What, you know, what was your way of? I don't know, I'm interested in what the moment was for you where it became, you know, you notice these things growing up, but what was that moment where you're like, actually, I would like to study environmental science. And then from that moment, like, actually, I want to become an educator, I want to be more active in this role, and might not only my communities, but in the world, like, what is that internal process? like for you?
Isaias Hernandez:Yeah, I think for me, it was always the fact that I was a very holistic learner. And so what that meant was like, I was never good at any subjects, like I would say, like, I was not good at writing, I was not good at math or science, I was not good at history. And so a lot of these topics are really hard subjects were really hard to understand, mainly because in academics like primary to 12th grade, I think, Tinder to tell is that the silo all of these subjects, and necessarily, they don't necessarily always intertwine in your own educational experience. And so I realized that while I wasn't the best student, nor the worst student, I realized that, okay, I like learning about the environment, that was really something I was passionate about, I think the moment that really struck me was we go to field trips, and I was younger, and just learn about fossils. And like, you know, ecology, the ocean. And so that really intrigued me. And when I learned about climate change, or global warming back then, in middle school, that made me realize or think about, like, why is it that we talk about it as if it's separate woman? It's a global issue. And so I think part of myself was embarrassed to ask those types of questions. Because I didn't want to sound like I did not know anything, or I just felt the environment wasn't safe for me to ask about, especially when you're young. And as a teacher, it's like, you have those dynamics or like, you don't know that much. And so I think that really push those boundaries to learn more. And I think High School, it's when I realized that, you know, I had a high school teacher, a chemistry teacher told me like, you know, you should do environmental work. Like I know, you're not new. I know, you told me you struggle a lot with chemistry, but I know that you're very smart enough to do this field. And so I think that was one teacher that really believed in the fact that I can do a science major because I didn't necessarily believe I can go into research or even like, take organic Chem and physics and all these kinds of they took an undergrad but necessarily when I took it, and I learned about it, I did struggle a lot but I think it was worth for me to really engulfing that experience because I was able to provide empirical data science to back back up my statements and my research and just really present data information science with lived experiences in that community to really provide more forms of accessible education, because that's what I saw was missing in academics more and more scientific. But those of you who have never came from my community, those who grew up, which is not an issue, but necessarily they don't understand those effects of living in those communities.
mary grace allerdice:That make sense. And I want to dive into a little bit of this relationship to queerness. And also how that being a lens or a relationship through which you interact with and understand the natural world. What is, you know, how is that? How does that identity evolved within you? And then also, how does that affect your, again, your relationship with the natural world? Or how you understand it?
Isaias Hernandez:Yeah, I think with like my queerness, I think, starting off, it was so hard to just find any queer mentors out there, because it was seen as something unnatural. And like when you have parents stuff, this is growing up at improving my sexuality, but they call or they did, but I kind of felt like it was hard for me to find a niche or community to understand how my career is related to the environment. And so when I was in college, I first learned about queer ecology. And so I realized we were ecology challenges and notes how, you know, the way that we see natural in the world, or ecosystems, who essentially deems that as natural, right? We, I, when I took an ecology course, we learn about species being either clear, or what you would say, have multiple partners, polygamy, polyamorous relationships, and so then I realized, like, why is it the fact that within animal species they don't necessarily discriminate against other species who participate in these types of identities are different types of fluidity, rather than in this heteronormative world. It rejects the idea of queerness, it says that it's unnatural, it says that queer trans people are not normal, that there's something wrong with them. And so part of that, for me was deconstructing how Western society has always viewed this because when I delved deeper into ecology, you realize that different indigenous cultures and practices and different types of identities have always existed and necessarily, you know, they don't necessarily identify as queer or trans, but they're just either to spirit individuals or people who just really don't identify with gender binary. And so I realized how binary codes within the West and how we established this world of men female, and that's it was very deadly and toxic for a lot of weirdness. And so I think that being able to reconnect with that and realize that I work in the environmental field is fluid, which means that translate to the work I do today is that necessarily, I don't always talk about environmental justice, veganism or zero waste, it's very fluid and how I want to talk about these things. And so I think that within queer liberation and just environmentalism, it is an environmental issue, because the people right now that have it the worst or that are experiencing the climate crisis are part of that group queer and trans folks who necessarily are either being imprisoned for trying to escape their countries or slash with the climate refugee crisis. They are the ones who face the most gender based violence to especially when we incorporate topics of like eco feminism. And so I think these are really important nuances to navigate in this field. And that's how I really transpire my queerness in my own work today.
mary grace allerdice:Yeah, and it's like when we look at nature, then queerness is not an exception, really. It's not like exceptional in the sense that it's like, other I guess it's just the lay of the land.
Isaias Hernandez:Exactly. Yeah.
mary grace allerdice:When At what point in your life, did you adopt a plant based diet like, and what made you choose that?
Isaias Hernandez:Yeah, I think it was in college. Like, I feel like there's very during that time, there's a lot of us meet a lot of individuals, different backgrounds. And so it's really funny, because I remember taking an animal agriculture class. And so I was aware of the injustice that happening with undocumented farmworkers. I always knew that. But yes, I eat meat until I was 21. And so for me, it happened because I remember a class we learned about animal factory farms and slaughterhouses we met went deeper than just acknowledging that there there went deeper into their fears of what happens to them and how they have a lot of mental trauma when being the fact that Of course, animals are being slaughtered and abuse at a very massive very and contribute contributing to the degradation of the planet. And to the fact that the workers don't have access to medical insurance have to fear deportation, are constantly in the mood for seasons in different states, because necessarily, you know, on the East Coast, you have season less, because it's just one not really a season anymore. And so I think that the important thing for me was that someone said that you can't beat environmentalist if you're not vegan. And so I asked him why, during that time, they told me this, you know, a very long statement. But I realized that they all were how problematic that person was in that scene and was, but I think, for me, it was realizing that I could just make individual change, and necessarily, I didn't really read me anymore. And so I primarily ate chicken back then. And so I realized, like, you know, I'm just gonna do this, because I don't need meat in my diet, I, I've seen that you can eat a plant based diet, and it will be fine for me. And so I started doing it slowly and surely. And I think that part of my veganism work today is just advocating for the liberation of animals, humans, while also understanding that not everyone can adapt to plant based diets. And so I think the rhetoric of like, if you are vegan, it excuses you from this type of notion that you get to judge others or you get to be homophobic, transphobic, fat phobic all of these things. And so I think for me, it's really using that lens of intersectionality, for me to present multitudes of veganism, while coming from a place of love and understanding where I ate meat for 21 years. So I've only been vegan for two years. So it's not that long that if I have to say,
mary grace allerdice:yeah, yeah, I love that. Because there can be such a pedestal with plant based eating a lot of the time and then everyone's like, Oh, my God, that person is vegan, stay away, because God knows what judgment is happening. And I think it's interesting, too, that you were like, one of the reasons that you wanted to shift was from, you know, also noticing, like the human and justices happening alongside of the animal and justices, and that I think, are sometimes less talked about. I'm also interested in my husband and I are also plant based. And so it's like, you know, interacting with like family members, and like not coming across as like, you know, holier than thou at all. And also understanding, like, if it's something like that it's not either or, like, you don't have to, like never eat meat or any animal based product ever again. Or you just like our total counterbore. And like, all you need a steak for every meal. Like there's a spectrum and I think, offering people a step to, like, Where can you just like do less sometimes? What does that feel like? Where How can this be an experiment for you? Where can this be a living question, maybe you end up staying where you are, but like, how do you usually engage in those kinds of conversations?
Isaias Hernandez:Yeah, I think it's, it's hard because I think that necessarily, it comes from both ways. I think we're like, other people need to understand you. And luckily, like my own sister's vegan, and her boyfriend's vegan, and so we live in a vegan household, basically. But I think when it comes to meeting other people, you know, I necessarily tell them like, Oh, just a heads up, like I do eat plant based vegan. So I just want to ask if there's options there for me, but necessarily, I think that when it comes to veganism, there is this notion of one where heteronormativity has like, kind of like feminized plant based diets. And so when I get questions like that, like, oh, like, you know, it's not feminine to eat plants, like we all eat plants. And so that characterization of meat being masculine, seen as like, you know, you're cold, my culture is pushing it down, like you got to eat to be strong, really deconstructing that toxic masculinity within that, but I think that ways that I've really navigated is I've been very clear and transparent with how I view veganism and how I necessarily always tell myself like, this is for myself, but also understanding that there are impurities in veganism misses most especially like, recently, like, the coconut milk from that comes from Thailand, like monkeys are enslaved to capture the coconuts. And so necessarily, as much as we want to be like plant based and more ethical, necessarily our own supply chain for food system comes from slave labor, whether it be from humans or animals. And so I really try my best to understand that. While I may be reducing my impact, how am I critically engaging in these conversations where I don't necessarily have to feel attacked, the more challenging of like, this is the system, it's perpetuating, it's harming my own people, and challenging them to think, you know, I'm not telling you to go vegan, but I'm telling you necessarily realizing the impact of this step to just educating yourself and that's just a basic human decency that you should just do yourself that you just know, necessarily like, it's not hurting you, no one has ever died for learning about something like that I always tell people, and so I think the power of unlearning is really powerful. But there are discussions where I just like, don't really bother to just engage anymore because a person is angry, or two, I'm not gonna like waste my energy anymore, although
Unknown:I think that's why is this kind
mary grace allerdice:of brings me to another question that I wanted to engage with, with talking about our overall relationship to the environment at this point in how our economies mirror that relationship and also control it to some extent, to most extent, what is what are some of the ways that you would describe that relationship? Like how its controlled? What's wrong with it? What does it look like? Overall?
Isaias Hernandez:Yeah,
mary grace allerdice:I think with like, just asking about a capitalistic society, how it marries our behavior, like consumer extractive economies, essentially, yeah.
Isaias Hernandez:Yeah, I think that it's hard, like, you know, there's a spectrum of overconsumption. And so I was defined as a way of like, up, like, upholding the axis or participating in the axis of purchasing items out, uphold unsustainable futures. And I think that's because the fact that we've always been ingrained at a young age to over consume. And this comes from different forms, whether it be our parents who necessarily may have not grown up with a lot or two media where it's like, you just see all these toys, you see all of these things that you want video games, and you're just like, I want it, I want it, I want it most often, not far Gray's influences. Where we grew up with is either our family, our friends, or the media or TV, right? And so one, or we cannot escape overconsumption thoughts, but I think that we can challenge how overconsumption is now contributing to the degradation of the planet. And this is a perfect example with the holidays, right? I think a lot of people are willing to over consume the holidays, for the gift of love for our family, but necessarily, if we want to give that gift of love, and have sustainable holidays in the future, that we need to understand our environmental impact of what we're doing. And so I think that overconsumption is rooted in, like you said, extractions, rooted in colonialism, mainly because the fact that we've been told this live that the development of the nations in the West are developed or developed countries or higher income countries, those reason for success is because they urbanized the reason of success is because they built all these great infrastructures, while ignoring all the environmental impacts and other things that displaced communities of color and destroy ecosystems. And so I think that we're only given one side of the picture book. And so I think that's one of the dangers is that, because we've aligned so much with that image aligned so much with that mission, we kind of close that other page or ignore it. And I think now that we've become more conscious consumers or conscious consumers of it's coming out more, I think more and more people are realizing like, Oh, I should maybe I shouldn't have done that. And we see this in forms of self care to write self care. I used to think like, go take yourself on a date, go buy yourself food, go buy this, buy this, buy this. And so why is it that self care has to be rooted in overconsumption? And this is something that I'm still exploring myself, necessarily, and not shaming anyone to do it. But why is it that self care is rooted in overconsumption? I think that's a great question that I asked a lot of people. Yeah, I
Unknown:think so too. I
mary grace allerdice:think that's a great question. I was shocked my spouse and I were talking about like Christmas in general. I was so grateful for his family because they just there's no pressure on this like Christmas experience at all. They're like, literally wrap up some shit from your house for white elephant, white elephant eating it. And it's hilarious. Like, it's just a beautiful, like exchange of just being together really. And we were talking I was like, No, no one needs any more shit. Like, none of us need more shit at all. But yeah, there's something about that. I remember being a little kid and just like watching the commercials be like, Oh my god, I need that fucking Barbie doll. Like it was like, I mean, it was mental. It was not even Okay, how much I wanted it. And that's problematic for not just the consumption, but for so many other reasons. But what is I kind of want to talk about conscious consumerism and this idea of like, cyclical, cyclical economies, but this also is like a way of consuming in a way that's more reciprocal where like we're thinking about like the end of things and that can circle back into the beginning of things, I kind of want to talk about those at the same time, because they feel very related. But perhaps starting jumping off with conscious consumerism, like, how do you define that? And what are some ways that you are thinking about it or working with it in your own life?
Isaias Hernandez:Yeah, I think conscious consumerism, from what I read is like it started in the 1980s, or 90s. And so it basically asked or looked into how consumers decide their preferences in choosing excess of items or items that necessarily have a positive social, economic and environmental impact, necessarily, the argument is that we all contribute to forms of capitalism, and necessarily it is true, we cannot escape that. But I think with conscious consumers, instead of time to individual to create that large change are demanding that corporation to change is that they participate in more mindful decision when it comes to their purchasing, because most often not, we are going to purchase more than advocate for a large change. And that's something that not to be ashamed of, but just something to address with ourselves. And so I think that conscious consumerism really, advocates, I think, in my view, for communities, do the research more to look into that company? Do they pay a fair wage? Are they 1% for the planet, by the USDA Organic certified all of these labels, more and more people are becoming concerned about because the fact is, we understand that our planetary health has declined over the last few years. And so people instead of asking what can I do at a local level, when it comes to voting or just large scale change, I think conscious consumers that first step to just identify that, necessarily, you may not have a large power, but your dollar matters and where you support what businesses you're supporting. And this stems from disappointed local economies, that necessarily, I cannot say that they're more sustainable. But I can say that compared to large corporations, like Amazon, they're much more eco friendly than choosing these large entities that are just wrapped in plastic, are not paid fair wages of workers and come from just rapid erosion of just transportation. And so I think that conscious consumers is a really great first step for people. But I think the dangers of it is that people still think that with conscious consumers that people will just stop there. And so it will create larger change. And that's what I think we're conscious consumers and fall short is that it doesn't provide more actionable steps to hold those corporations accountable.
mary grace allerdice:Totally. Something that I've been increasingly I feel like every year, I kind of focus on because there's also this like, very interconnected relationship between like planetary health and human health, which feels obvious to say, but it's when I get into conversation, sometimes it's also amazing that like, people just don't think about it that way. And how, like, you know, the things that I put on my body, whether that's clothing or toiletries, or like, if it hurt the planet, in order to make this thing, it's probably also damaging to me, whether indirectly or directly. And part of how I've been thinking about that, too, is just wondering, like, is this thing biodegradable? Like if I put if I this has to end up in the trash at some point? Is it going to be there for a million years? It's like one big question that I've been wrestling, especially like clothes, and like how so many of our clothes are made out of plastic and which is insane. But that's a question. I feel like for me, since we can't divest in capitalism, completely at this point, like what you're saying conscious consumers, and there's a way we can kind of start to make change on a small level. But that's the big question that I've been holding. It's like if this ends up in the trash. What is that going to look like? Is it is it possible? For 2020? I'm interested in my do I want to go to this question, or do I want to talk about zero waste? I think I want to talk about zero waste first. Because that's such a because I just basically was talking about that. It's such a big, like, when you talk about zero waste, people's eyes start to glaze over because then they're like, Oh my gosh, everything I'm doing so bad for the environment. I can't How can I possibly get rid of my trash? How do you even begin to talk about that with people?
Isaias Hernandez:Yeah, I think it's a little bit it's a hard conversation to have these days, I think was like minimalism. Right. minimalism I think was introduced first before zero waste and minimalism is different because I think it just advocates just for the less excess vitamins in your home. And pretty much it doesn't really tell you to stop using plastic it just says have not that many items that you need. But I think with zero always. The issue with it is that point I pointed out that the lifestyle movement has really perpetuated this forms of perfectionism, which can often be misleading misguiding. And so I think that zero waste was designed back in 2002, or three. And it meant it was defined as having communities live in a circular system without having any industries discharge any negative environmental impacts in the environment. And so what the lifestyle movement did in the late 2000s, I think there was this person named v. Johnson, that live this minimal Zero Waste lifestyle is that like it focused on individual behavior change, which is great. But I think the dangers of that is that it kind of presented it as if it was something new, as if plastic free living was something new. But I think that the dangers of that is the fact that it ignored the issues of what is plastic come from? Who is plastic harming right now, other than the animals, right, that we know about from ocean beach cleanups. But how does that link to environmental injustice? And so I think that when you have a poll, these white celebrities, and the zero waste lifestyle with a cutout creates this discharge narrative of like, Oh, well, people of color don't really do this, because they're poor, and they use so much materials. But this is daily, we started seeing more of these eco friendly behaviors being adopted and used by these individuals that necessarily different parts of the countries had that type of lifestyle, before the plastic industry flooded their markets and had them over consumed. And now all of that plastic is being sent to them. And they just live with that plastic nowadays, and are also what he would say, normalized with that, because it took years over years to get normalized with that issue. And so I think that necessarily, I think, when I talk about zero is I kind of get an angle as a human rights issue where I advocate for environmental justice and recognizing that plastic free living is a privilege, but also understanding that if we're just a word, choosing to live this eco friendly lifestyle and thing for the planet, but you're ignoring all of these injustices, and disregarding these conversations about race in the environment, then that's where I have issues with it, because I think people only get to cherry pick what topics they want to please their audience without having that race conversation. So something I've been seeing now is that, you know, when I do conversations about zero waste is that I don't, you know, call out people, but I just bring it to the attention that we can't keep perpetuating this same rhetoric of zero waste panels of like, how do you reduce your waste? What do you think of zero is I keep seeing those same questions that sometimes just tars them just to be asked of like, what are tips to be zero waste, right? Why don't we just talk about the large issue about zero waste Systems and how they contributed to our interlake to environmental racism? Because necessarily, it's not doing that much change? through a large scale chain, large scale system?
mary grace allerdice:Right? Like, where's the waste ending up? Why is it ending up there? Who's making it? Who's targeting it for that place? That those people in that area? who's suffering from it the most? Exactly 100%? How do you start, like for people who feel kind of overwhelmed by what's going on in the world, and like everything they do is wrong in regards to how they relate to these topics, like everything they do is wrong, or it's bad, like, where do you encourage people to either start thinking or start learning or even simple practices as far as like, behavior or perspective?
Isaias Hernandez:Yeah, I mean, I think I told people first to empower is the fact that like, you probably do live sustainably you just don't identify with those habits, or your parents or your siblings that instill certain types of eco friendly behaviors, whether it be like your parents making you take public transportation to school, whether it be them telling you like don't throw out that jar, you better use it until last or like you better recycle this or you were forced to recycle because I was a form of survival. So I think these are all eco friendly behaviors that necessarily we can identify with or some place we have certain things that we've done sustainably. But I think to the fact that we need to shift these conversations from uncomfortability, to unlearning, and just regrowing because this is really what I speak on panels or talk to people. I tell them like, I've messed up so many times, and I'm going to continue doing that. But necessarily, that's the best way to learn because I think growing up, we're constantly learning we're constantly being scolded by our parents or siblings feel like you're doing it wrong, but necessarily, it never harmed you in the long run and never, you know it, you didn't die from it, you grew from it. And so I think that as we get, we get older, we're more uncomfortable to change. And I think people necessarily need to move that point, past that point of privilege and understanding like, you know, we all have privileges in this world. But necessarily, we can no longer silence our voices of marginalized folks, but also silence these conversations, whether it be with our, you know, racist, problematic family members or friends, like it's time to address these conversations. And so necessarily, no one's perfect, I understand that. But I think that people then just shut down completely, because they're like, Oh, I'm not doing anything, right. But it's like, you need to understand and hold yourself accountable to even maybe the harm that you may have not known that you committed. And then you must acknowledge that and do better, because I think that we all cause harm in different forums, and maybe with myself, and I think a lot of people are just like, No, I don't want to do that like that too much for me. And so I tell people, it's time to move past these points of conversations of uncomfortability and start having more productive conversations of what you're doing. And this doesn't have to be large, it just has to be locally in your own just your own networks of friends, family or loved one. Yeah,
mary grace allerdice:I was listening. I'm gonna mess up this quote. But I'm gonna say it anyways, because it's really perfect. But on Prentiss Hemphill on their podcast, finding our way, was just talking about perfectionism as basically, this is where I can't remember is like, is a function of or is like a self fulfilling prophecy of self doubt. And there's a way that we even just like holding up this image of like, I have to do it perfectly before I can even show up to it is just a way of opting out or showing ourselves that we can't do it or that we're not participate that we can't participate, or that we shouldn't even try, which feels like it's kind of echoing like, it's not just because you can't do something perfectly doesn't like excuse you from showing up, essentially.
Isaias Hernandez:Exactly. And I think it's, a lot of people will need to just get past that point. Because I think that necessarily, not everyone has their flaws. And that's okay, it's valid. And we're all learning in this process. But we cannot victimize ourselves, because we were just addressed that like, you know, like, Oh my god, like, I feel bad. I can do damage right away. No, yeah, it's not gonna fix the planetary crisis.
mary grace allerdice:Yeah, it's not helping anyone, or anything. I loved your you put together a graph recently on the climate scale, as far as like kind of how our emotional gauge or spectrum of how we feel about our relationship to the natural world. Do you mind talking about the climate scale, and potentially some of the highlights and where you fall on it from time to time?
Isaias Hernandez:Yeah, I think I did the climate skill in the time of during the West Coast fires. And so it was so bad in California, Portland, Oregon, Seattle, and Canada, and other states. And so what happened was that there was smoke everywhere. And I was just like, everyone was just, it was so bad. I had experienced fires in Northern California, my last year of college when it was all pitch, dark wood ashes. And it almost seems as if a nightmare had happened. And so what happened is that the climate kill for me, was a way to address the fact that we always talk about either eco anxiety or ecological grief. But necessarily, there's other emotions that we don't talk about, we don't identify with ourselves. And so I have a very huge fan of Glenn alberich. That is the sustainability professor that wrote the book, Earth emotions. And so part of the words I developed in the climate scale, ranges from emotions that go from deep interconnected love, to hatred, and in the middle in between is this anxiety, sadness, anger, trauma. And so necessarily, for me, I designed in a way for people to just identify more with it, because I think that we just talked so much about those two terms. And so what I did basically, in terms of like utopia that basically looked into the interconnect, the interrelated love of hole and so like the interrelated love that you have just feeling at peace when you're with ecosystems, and as they're looking and identifying each emotions so for me that I guess I would say like a got really deep for people because then they were able to share with their friends and loved ones. And so what made me happy is that the climate skill now, hopefully is provided more mental health resources because the lack of climate therapist the lack of people who have access to mental health issues, the lack of spaces available, even talk about climate mental health issues, is so overbearing and is going to increase and so I think that with the climate scare This was a great introduction just to provide free resources that people necessarily just having issues, just talking about the climate crisis and just presenting it with their friends to be like, Oh, look at this, like, this is what it means. And then you share experiences that I think that it has helped a lot of people in the West Coast is identifying with their ecological cleaving, which is Earth based trauma with named chair trauma. So that was like the big inspiration, or what he would say, the big event that really created me and inspired me to create it.
mary grace allerdice:Where do you would you say that you fall on the scale from week to week?
Isaias Hernandez:Yeah, you know, I this is really true, I love it's called Sol astrology. And so it's like, kind of like nostalgia, where it's kind of like this sorrow you feel of the environment that you lived in and no longer exist. And so this can look a variety from like, either the trees in your neighborhood got cut down, or they built a luxurious apartment next door, or, you know, the the empty lot that used to exist now is now a supermarket or a mall. And you're just like, you know, we used to play there. And so there's just a variety of things. And I think I really feel that a lot being Los Angeles. Now, these last few months moved in here, mainly because like, I realized that my whole city that I grew up in the 1996, to like 2012 13, is just changed so much. And now that people, there's less green spaces available, and now that I feel like kind of sorrow that the next generation of those kids growing up in my environment will have those experiences that I did. And so I feel this a lot every day, when I even visit Northern California, what I did, is that it's different when I was in college, now, certain things don't exist. And even in New York, now when I go back, it's gonna be different. But that's something that I really deal with. And I think with like eco Gil, I feel it a lot, because I think a lot of I think a lot of us always think we could do more. And so I really range from these emotions, because I realized that like I entered the social media spaced out like 20 to 23 with this page, and I was like, maybe it could have done more, and I was younger, but I don't think I should have that much guilt in trying to to survive in this world. And so I think that a lot of us have guilt in us. And we shouldn't shame be ashamed of that and just validate that experience instead.
mary grace allerdice:I agree, thank you for sharing that. In like 2020, where what issues have been highlighted the most for you around issues like environmental justice, environmental racism, etc.
Isaias Hernandez:I think some issues like for me, I've been really more passionate about just like, things have been happening in my seat areas, especially with like oil refineries from Chevron, like experiencing environmental racism for those communities in Northern California, advocating for them, I think, other issues when I'm been exploring his outside of the West, and just looking into other countries, and they don't have the privilege, or social media sometimes to talk about these issues, a platform to raise awareness of these issues. And so for me, when it comes to environmental justice, you know, the other day like the Philippines, the greatest typhoon hit, until they are more and more losing their economy they are suffering the most. And so how do I position myself as an environmental justice advocate to really raise funds, but also Demand Action from other countries to start helping? And so I think when it comes, a lot of the issues I've highlighted 2020 have ranged from just like police brutality, linked to environmental justice as they are terrorizing the communities and they are an environmental pollutant if we think about it. And just, I think there's just been a lot, I think, waste incinerators being located in low income bipoc in communities for plastic production. And so I think I really make those interconnections with humans, animals, ecosystems, and then
mary grace allerdice:the intersection of all of it. Yeah. One question that I'm loving to ask people this year is whose work or imagination whose life is making this moment possible for you?
Isaias Hernandez:No, I would say my community is what made it possible for me, because I don't I don't see those followers. I see them as like community members and like part of like this, instead of me teaching that it's more about like we're in a circle together, just learning and talking roundtable discussion. And so I think I think that so much, because I think that when I first started, I was like, Oh, I'm just doing this to share my thoughts. But I would have never imagined to just increase this large amount of community members and now people are just like, Well, what do you think about this or like, can you do topic about this like, or just hearing teachers or people are like, oh, I call it we talk about your work or like in high school, like, you know, your work has made me advocate for change in my community. And so that really empowers every day to hear that this free education page or whatever lifestyle blogger, I am just, I get to share who I am vulnerable, I get to, hopefully to in the long term, like, go full time with this career, because this is what I really wanted to do. And I identify so strongly with work. And I know this is just the beginning. But I just want to continue just reaching out to a lot of community members and seeing how I can go outside of the West, and reach other voices to hopefully amplify their work and just work with them to
Unknown:I have no doubt that you will for sure.
mary grace allerdice:How can people become a part of this community? How can people find you if we want to stalk you on the internet? If we want to learn from you? Where do people do that?
Isaias Hernandez:Yeah, you can go queer bound vegan.com. And you can download a free eco education book, actually, you can just share it with anyone, it's completely free. It's beautifully, 14 illustrations that are representative of bipoc bodies, different abilities, race class, and so we kind of took all the terms that I've talked about and made them to illustrations, and so they're really friendly to share with your friends, children and kids just learning about environmental is that and just really engaged in those topics. And you can follow me on YouTube on vegan whether via Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Tik, Tok, Pinterest, all of those socials, and so really encourage anyone just wanting to learn just to reach out and also message me if you ever have questions, because I'm very open on that. And amazing, beautiful. Well,
mary grace allerdice:I want to thank you so much for taking the time to just be in conversation and share your knowledge and also like your passion for all the things that you're working on and teaching on. Is there anything else that you want to leave us with that you feel like we didn't get time to cover get into?
Isaias Hernandez:No, not necessarily. I mean, I think the last few years, I would just say is community creates change, not institutions. And just always remember that because I think that wherever you may be you have a community even a be your family or friends or your own animal friends, like you know, they are your community. So never forget that. Totally.
mary grace allerdice:Well. Thank you so much. I'm so grateful for you being here. I appreciate it.
Isaias Hernandez:Yeah, thank you so much.
mary grace allerdice:Thank you so much for listening. If you enjoyed the conversation, please leave us a five star rate or review, subscribe to the show and share the episode with someone else who would enjoy it. Be sure to check out the links below the episode and the notes for more information about anything that we talked about on the show, free resources and also how you can join our free group where you can talk about the episode with other like minded folks. Thank you for being here. Peace.