‘’To design a better future we need to look at our past.’’
In ‘Expert Talk’ we speak to inspiring experts from a specific field, who shed their light on pressing topics. This time: professor in environmental history Bartow Elmore.
Bartow Elmore opens his TED Talk with the following statement: ‘’If you have used a plastic bottle in the last week and didn’t recycle it, there is a good chance that 450 years from now, that plastic bottle might still be here on this planet!’’His exclamation points to the passion and genuine care for the topic. Microplastics that have emerged literally everywhere, in 94% of the tap water of the United States, and the amount we annually digest is disconcerting.
Bartow says we don’t need new technology or gadgets to solve our problems with waste and the climate, but a better understanding of our past. He didn’t realise this when he was younger and had to choose a study direction, but there is an entire field of environmentalists focussing on history. Now he is an associate professor of environmental history and core faculty member of the Sustainability Institute at the Ohio State University.
Bartow never imagined the two, history, and environment together, he tells us when we speak over Zoom. ‘’I came to realise that this field of history has real power, but it’s not recognised. It is treated with less respect than other disciplines, which is why at first I wanted to be in science, to help people recover from cancer for example.‘’ Often people would question the use of a history study and say what are you going to do with a history major? ‘’To which I reply: what are you going to do without one? We look at the past critically to try and see how that past can help us design a better future.‘’ Now he says to his students, ‘’I don’t know how on earth you could design a sustainable economy without looking at the past. History teaches us the basic workings of human existence and society.’’
Nowadays, climate problems are often being addressed by inventions that solve the symptom, but not the origin of the issue. ‘’I love tech, but if it is not informed by where we have been, then I think we are going to recreate the problems of our past. That’s why history has to be at the centre of these discussions,’’ says Bartow.
One thing that studying the past yielded, is what worked and what did not.
Coca Cola, often known as the corporate villain who is putting out billions of plastic bottles (100 billion plastic bottles a year according to Greenpeace) has been an intriguing object of study for Bartow. He spent about 10 years studying the corporation, resulting in the book Citizen Coke: The Making of Coca-Cola Capitalism. ‘’Here is a company with huge global footprint, studying it would be a great way to look more broadly at the global economy.’’
He goes on to tell, ‘’before we had plastic containers, companies like Coca Cola used glass bottles with a deposit on it. This urged people to return the bottle as they got money back, and thus facilitating the re-use of bottles of sometimes up to 40 times.’’ Eventually Coca Cola and many others moved on to plastic single use containers, much more efficient due to their weight and thus lower costs. The anticipated answer to all this extra waste – recycling, coined as a magic solution during the 70’s – didn’t pan out as was hoped and recycling rates remained extremely low.
The logical conclusion from looking at this successful system is that you have to put a price on containers, and thus on plastic single use bottles as well. The latter is slowly picking up, about 40 countries worldwide have introduced the system now.
Hope for change in corporation’s attitude
Only after many years in the field and writing 2 books -the latest on the impact of chemical firm Monsanto on our food system- Bartow came to realise the driving factors behind his work. ‘’At the end of the day, I don’t like bullies. Institutions that I think had such outsized influence on our food system and economy, wielded their powers in ways that I found unjust. It is something I really care about, justice, equity, and the environment.’’ A deep respect and appreciation for nature nestled in him due to spending a lot of time in the north Georgia mountains, hiking, kayaking through the vast wilderness.
Even though corporations such as Coca Cola and Monsanto, that have devastating effects on our planet, are often seen ‘’as Satan,’’ Bartow has found that there are many people within corporations who are ‘’great people and environmentalists themselves, who would like to see change. But there are also people in these firms clearly driving by the bottom line and do things that are unethical to achieve those goals.’’
While his first book on Coca Cola received snarling comments from the corporation he does notice a changing attitude in corporations. ‘’Years ago, they would bat away anything I said. They actually did with my Coke book. Ten years later I wrote a hard hitting book about Monsanto and they actually reached out. They said: ‘hey we learned a lot from your book, maybe we can have a conversation and see how we can do better.’’ This happened just recently so Bartow has yet to see how it will turn out, but it feels promising to him. ‘’Is this sincere, will change really happen? We will wait and see. But that they reached out is some kind of hope to me.’’
Reforming the systems is essential
‘’There are people who dig into the details and can see that a lot of what big corporations say - like Coca Cola, is greenwashing but unfortunately I don’t think this permeates down to a lot of people. This is why we need people to question things. Don’t just accept things, ask about chemicals being sprayed (in the example of Monsanto) or question the government agency that is controlling it.’’
‘’Regarding the government, in my work it has been startling to watch the failure of regulatory bodies, mainly in the United States, like EPA (Environmental Protection Agency). I think a lot of people assume that there is an agency out there making sure everything is safe, but what I can say is that time and again these agencies fail to protect these consumers and provide information that is clear.’’
On the question where most power lies for effecting change: governments, companies or consumer Bartow says all three play a major role. But the real impact is going to be from regulatory reform, he believes. ‘’I’m more interested in institutions and governments that have the power to make companies change their ways, than waiting for a company to change its nature. ‘’
‘’One could argue that here in the United States little is going to change until we have campaign finance reform,’’ an unusual answer to the question where we should start with saving the climate, that most people don’t expect.‘’We can get billions and billions of dollars out of the political system so that the government can actually represent the people. Campaign finance reform is the beginning. We have to take back our governments.’’
Thinking about the sustainable society or economy of the future, Bartow says it‘’goes back to changing our electoral systems so that special interests don’t have that kind of control over our governing bodies, to having a government that is not captured by private interests.’’
He believes that institutions that can play a huge role in changing environmental issues are banks. ‘’But there are no rules standardised across the board. For example: if I disinvest in coal, there is no rule that the competitor is not going to pick up that business. If there were some universal rules and people see the potential of these massive banks across the globe that have such capital resources, then there could be overnight change.’’
‘’There are lots of ways it can be done, for example certain types of lending leads to climate risk, therefore you need to set aside a certain amount of capital to deal with that risk, which is something a bank doesn’t want to do. Changing the flow of capital, where it is going, where it is allowed to go, im hopeful with this.’’
A new model
‘’What history showed me very clearly is that we have to get away from the late 19th century modern corporate model, which was to sell more every year. But that logic clearly doesn’t hold up for the 21st century. Do you really need to sell more?’’
Besides regulatory reform and the change of capital flows, Bartow is convinced that we need to find corporations that show the way. ‘’Who can show their shareholders that generating value outside that model of selling more is possible. We have to confront this growth model, could growth mean something else? I hear from people in private industry that they’d like that.’’
He mentions the example of Patagonia, the apparel brand and a trial they held in a few stores. ‘’When people came into their store, sales people literally asked them: ‘do you really need this purchase, this jacket that you are looking at?’ Imagine an economy where that is the way things go, that it is not an endless stream of pushing new products, but where we asking customers to re-use what they have or question their consumptive behaviour.’’
In the current system, this is never questioned. ‘’There is always something to buy to solve your problem. For example, the obesity epidemic in the USA. Then there was diet coke, buy this to solve the obesity problem. It is just about getting outside this logic of sell more sell more sell more. It is rat race that is destined to lose in the long run.’’
Every small bit helps
‘’I push for structural changes but it also matters what we do as individuals. Their choices matter. Just little examples of someone living out their ideals.
Climate change is ultimately a humanist history. The planet will be fine without us. Those who care about climate, really care about humans.’’
Bartow describes himself as an ever optimistic person and can manage to look at the positive side of things. ‘’The farming situation that is so out of whack. Overusing fertilisers, too much livestock, turning beneficial products like manure into extremely toxic products. Again from a history perspective, take a step back and ask yourself: what beings does this? Take things that are beneficial and overuse them and create huge environmental problems.’’
‘’Yet, it seems to me that the chemical input has resulted in such disastrous problems, that it's inspiring revolutionary change right now. It is weird that I walk away from writing a book about one of the worst companies in terms of environmental impact feeling hopeful. Because Monsanto stuck to this growth model, selling as much Roundup as you can, this has resulted in us seeing the dangers of this system now, and not later.’’
Sometimes Bartow struggles with the thought if words are enough. ‘’I made my career out of words. Is it really having enough impact? Is there not something more I can do?’’ In the end, another lesson of history is that every bit helps. ‘’ Little pebbles, little conversations, somebody sees what you write, heard what you said, and maybe they end up in parliament.’’
Learn more about Bartow Elmore: bartelmore.com
