What does compassion have to do with zero waste, sustainability, health and wellness, plant-based eating, and cruelty-free living? The answer is EVERYTHING.
I want to talk about this word compassion.
If ever a human condition was misunderstood and dangerously mischaracterized, it’s compassion.
We talk about it, praise it, and expect it from others, yet we routinely withhold it, distort it, and redefine it to fit our own biases. Instead of embracing it as a force for transformation, we turn it into something conditional—a reward for those who think like us, live like us, or behave in ways we approve of. For example…
Compassion is often characterized as weakness.
Compassion is often mistaken for passivity.
Compassion is often withheld to signal opposition to bad behavior.
Compassion is often rationed, given only to those deemed "worthy."
Compassion is often weaponized, used as a tool for exclusion.
Compassion is often dismissed in favor of group loyalty and identity politics.
Compassion is often seen as a betrayal of one’s tribe.
Compassion is often extended only to those who share our views.
Compassion is often denied to those who have made mistakes (or committed atrocities), lest it appear that we are condoning the wrongdoing.
Compassion is often expected from others but less demanded of ourselves.
Compassion is often rejected when it challenges our sense of righteousness.
In subsequent articles, I’ll continue to unpack why compassion is often overlooked and rejected as a response to the evils of this world (and how we can harness and hone it as a force for meaningful change, but in interviews promoting A Year of Compassion: 52 Weeks of Living Zero-Waste, Plant-Based, and Cruelty-Free, a lot of people are asking me, what does compassion have to do with topics like zero waste, sustainability, health and wellness, plant-based eating, and cruelty-free living?
It might seem obvious why cruelty-free living is tied to compassion, but what about zero waste? What does plant-based eating have to do with compassion? The answer is: Everything. And I want to tell you why.
Compassion vs. Social Darwinism: A False Dichotomy
Before I even get into the 52 weeks of directives and suggestions in the book, I first define compassion. I defend compassion. One of the things I talk about is how compassion is widely misunderstood. I believe a big reason for this misunderstanding is that compassion has been characterized as weak.
We live in a world shaped by the notion of “Social Darwinism”—this idea that it’s a dog-eat-dog world, and if you're compassionate, if you're empathetic, if you care about others, you’ll get crushed.
But this isn’t what Darwin actually said.
The term and concept of "Social Darwinism" is attributed to Herbert Spencer, a 19th-century philosopher and sociologist. Spencer applied Darwin’s theory of natural selection to human societies, arguing that competition and survival of the fittest were natural and justified social inequality.
Spencer also coined the term "survival of the fittest," which Darwin later used in the 5th edition of On the Origin of Species (1869). But when Darwin used this term, he was referring to biological fitness—an organism’s ability to survive and reproduce—not a justification for social inequality or human hierarchies, as some Social Darwinists later claimed.
At its most extreme, this ideology has been wielded to defend supremacist and racist beliefs, genocide, ethnic cleansing, eugenics, and other horrors. Even at its least harmful, it has reduced compassion to a symbol of weakness—seen as naive, feeble, and unfit to withstand the harsh realities of existence, doomed to be swallowed by the relentless tides of modern life.
In reality, Darwin’s writings emphasized that cooperation and compassion are key factors in the success of a species. He found that the species that favored cooperation, altruism, and compassion were the ones who survived. They thrived. They flourished.
So, this idea that compassion is weak? It’s the opposite of what Darwin discovered from an evolutionary standpoint.
Compassion Is the Solution
Compassion isn’t just about sympathy or empathy—though those are part of it. Compassion is also about action. It’s about taking the steps necessary to end suffering.
If there is suffering in the world—and there is—compassion is the solution.
It would be a mistake to think that the opposite of compassion is cruelty. It’s not.
The opposite of compassion is separateness.
Compassion is about recognizing our interconnectedness—as human beings, as animals, as Earthlings. We are like waves in the ocean—you cannot separate one from the other. If you recognize your interconnectedness, you start asking yourself:
How will this impact someone else?
The answer is “it will,” because everything we do has an impact—the question is:
Will it be negative or positive?
Once we get our answer, we respond accordingly.
Making Change Effortless
So, back to A Year of Compassion and all the suggestions I’m sharing over here…the idea isn’t to feel overwhelmed by the 52 weeks of suggestions in the book—whether it’s living zero waste, living cruelty-free, or making other changes.
Yes, these suggestions require action.
But if we look through the lens of interconnectedness, then these actions become effortless. They become exciting and empowering—because we realize that every choice we make has an impact.
The question is: Do we want our impact to be negative or positive?
This book is about all the positive impacts we can have.
As Marcus Aurelius said:
"What harms the hive, harms the bee."
It’s not just that what we do harms others. When we harm others, we also harm ourselves.
That’s why in this book, I talk about:
How we eat—not only in terms of its impact on the environment and animals, but on ourselves.
Self-compassion and other-compassion—because they are inseparable.
How everything we do impacts the world—and how we can make that impact positive.
Compassion doesn’t ask, “Are they compassionate?” It asks, “Am I?”
I hope this all makes sense—just a little food for thought.
If you want more, please subscribe. My goal is to create a community here of what I call Ambassadors of Compassion. I’ve been using that term for years, but I’m owning it now.
There are millions of Ambassadors of Compassion out there, right here—
Those of us who have been doing this for a while.
Those just starting out.
Those aspiring and struggling.
I am here for you. We are on this journey together.
Thank you for joining me. I would love to hear your thoughts.
For the animals, this is Colleen Patrick-Goudreau.
