Introduction

In recent decades, growing environmental problems have led to the emergence of new forms of social intervention, among which environmental activism stands out. But what exactly is environmental activism? Is it simply the act of planting trees? Picking up litter on beaches? Promoting recycling practices? This article seeks to explore the meaning of environmental activism and to distinguish it from what is referred to herein as “Public Gardening”.

Defining Environmental Activism

According to Eleanor Brooks, activism involves actions that challenge power structures to transform social, political, economic or environmental realities for the common good. In line with this concept, environmental activism can be seen as a set of actions aimed at confronting the ideologies and power structures behind environmental degradation. Environmental activism adopts a critical and transformative approach to environmental issues, aiming to: examine the structural causes of the environmental crisis, expose the mindset that sustains environmental degradation, one that views nature merely as a resource to be exploited and dominated in service of human needs and ambitions, and propose systemic change that requires a profound reorganization of the relationships between human beings and the other elements of nature. Planting trees, cleaning beaches and recycling waste are eco-friendly activities, but they do not, by themselves, constitute forms of environmental activism. To qualify as such, their actors must confront the root causes of deforestation and waste production, namely, capitalism, colonialism, and the commodification of nature. As Eduardo Galeano states, if these eco-friendly activities remain neutral toward the power structures and economic systems causing environmental degradation, they are nothing more than mere gardening more precisely, public gardening.

Public Gardening

Public gardening corresponds to a set of eco-friendly activities (tree planting, beach clean-ups, recycling, etc.) that contribute to reducing environmental degradation. However, these activities do not challenge the structural causes of environmental degradation. Public gardening has the following characteristics: it ignores the political, economic and historical causes of the environmental crisis, placing responsibility on individuals with the belief that “if everyone does their part,” the planet will be saved, it promotes tree and mangrove planting to combat the climate crisis but overlooks the systemic and ideological roots of the crisis, and it focuses on conserving tourist-attractive spaces (such as beaches), often ignoring the environments in which people live, work, and express their culture.

Conclusion

Environmental activism represents a struggle to transform the mental, economic, social, and political structures responsible for environmental degradation. In contrast, public gardening operates on a superficial and symbolic level, without challenging the foundations of the system that drives the ecological crisis. While environmental activism acknowledges the value of individual actions in environmental conservation, it considers them insufficient to prevent ecological collapse. Therefore, this article advocates for environmental struggles that go beyond individual accountability (“if everyone does their part”) and calls for confronting the power structures that perpetuate the ecological crisis.