Why does sustainability messaging sometimes fail?
And what can thinking in systems fix?
I personally don’t believe that sustainability messaging is failing because people don’t care. I think it’s because sustainability messaging from brands and organizations has become too fragmented, disjointed, and lacking in context that makes it meaningful. It often doesn’t feel tangible or relevant to a regular person who has no clue what a carbon credit is, what certain certifications or codes mean (think: resin identification codes on recyclable plastics), or how to read between the lines when something is being marketed to them as “eco-friendly”.
Here are ways that I think sustainability messaging tends to lose its impact:
When metrics get isolated from meaning
When numbers, charts, or metrics are shared without any narrative to back them, the date just becomes noise… or meaningless marketing.
When perfection is promised to imperfect systems
If there is no room for constraint, compromise, or learning, people tend to lose trust. Actual sustainability and regenerative systems are messy, imperfect, and always have room for change/improvement.
When it flattens the impact of culture and place
Global frameworks often times get applied universally. This ignores local ecologies, labor realities, and cultural practices… all of which innately shape what sustainability actually looks like on the ground.
How is systems thinking different?:
Systems thinking actually provides context by exploring how sourcing, labor, land/terrain, climate, logistics, storytelling, and economics all interact.
This can be done by telling connected stories instead of sharing isolated claims that don’t actually reflect reality as a whole in an industry or field of knowledge/work. It can also help shift the emphasis from mere virtue to actual responsibility. The focus, for both people (I hate using the word “consumers” sometimes) and organizations moves away from moral signaling and toward real stewardship, care, and long-term accountability.
Systems thinking can also help us recognize that sustainability and regeneration is lived through foodways, labor practices, rituals, and relationships. These things can’t just be audited.
If you can align operations with storytelling and your messaging reflects how a system actually functions, your communication will become much more coherent. It’ll stick with people and create lasting change.
Audiences are becoming more literate and asking more questions. They may not know everything, but they’re curious and want to make informed decisions about the brands or organizations they support and the systems they participate in. We have a long ways to go as a collective, but I hope this can help you shift your messaging into something that is more meaningful in the long run and hopefully congruent with your organization’s goals/values