Are You Green Wishing? Moving from Planetary Good Intentions to Collective Action
Last week, I sat down with globally recognized adventurer and founder Sophie Ballagh to discuss the frustrating gap between wanting systemic change and actually creating it.
She calls this mindset green wishing.
It happens when we genuinely care about the planet and want to make better choices, but our day-to-day actions haven't caught up with our intentions. We find ourselves waiting on external forces:
We wish businesses would prioritize the environment over profit.
We wish governments would move faster on climate policy.
We wish sustainable alternatives were more accessible.
While those systemic demands are valid, it leaves us with an uncomfortable question: What are we doing with the power already in our hands?
The Honest Impact Equation
Sophie challenges us to look honestly at both sides of our personal footprint:
Harm Reduction: What negative impact are we passively contributing to through default choices?
Active Good: What positive change are we actively creating through intentional decisions?
Sustainability isn't just about doing less damage; it’s about choosing to generate more good. That means actively choosing secondhand items first, redirecting capital toward ethical businesses, and leveraging our voices to influence those around us.
Why Your Choices Aren't Too Small
It’s easy to feel defeated by scale. One secondhand purchase won't dismantle fast fashion. One conversation won't shift an entire industry overnight.
However, individual actions never exist in isolation. They ripple outward to shape families, workplaces, and local communities. When a critical mass shifts its behavior, institutions and governments have no choice but to adapt. That ripple effect is the foundation of the collective.
From Wishing to Action
To turn green wishing into tangible impact, cultivate a brief pause before every consumer decision:
Pause before buying automatically.
Pause before choosing path-of-least-resistance convenience.
Pause before following cultural status quos.
In that single moment of reflection, you reclaim your agency.
Take the Action Challenge
This week, ask yourself two simple questions:
What change do I wish the world would make?
What is one choice I can make today that reflects that exact wish?
You don't need to fix everything overnight, but you can choose to stop waiting for everyone else to go first.
Watch the Conversation
Catch my full interview with Sophie Ballagh. We discuss what Antarctica taught her about human strength, how to bridge the gap between awareness and action, and why your voice is one of the most powerful tools for global change.
Written by Eve, Founder of Project Emerald Collective
