MAY 13 — Sustainability now appears almost everywhere in daily life. Whether booking a ride, ordering food, or shopping online, there is often a small option encouraging users to contribute towards a green programme for a few extra cents.  The amount is usually minor, yet I still find myself pausing sometimes before agreeing to it.

At first, I thought the hesitation was simply about money. But over time, I realised it was something else. I was not questioning whether sustainability matters. I was questioning why many green initiatives still feel emotionally distant despite becoming more common.

Consumers today are constantly told they are “offsetting carbon,” yet carbon can still feel distant when it is experienced only as numbers on a screen rather than something connected to real environmental change.

From Contribution to Everyday Behaviour

This became clearer to me through the tree-planting and restoration campaigns often linked to the small sustainability contributions now appearing within many digital transactions. The numbers often sound impressive — thousands or even millions of trees planted. But once the campaign attention fades, curiosity about what happens afterwards naturally begins to grow.

What happens to the trees years later? What does the restoration area look like now?

Are there updates showing how these projects are progressing over time?  Many people contribute towards environmental efforts without really seeing how these projects continue afterwards. Over time, the connection between the contribution and the actual environmental impact can start to feel distant.  When people are able to understand what a project is trying to protect and why it matters, the contribution begins to feel more connected to something real rather than simply another environmental label or transaction.

At the same time, sustainability often appears only briefly within the apps and online services many of us use every day. While ordering food, booking transport, or shopping online, environmental options are sometimes presented during payment, yet the experience often ends there once the transaction is completed.  Yet the same digital platforms and online services people use every day already shape many daily habits. They influence what people pay attention to, the choices consumers keep returning to, and even the routines that gradually become normalised over time.  Despite this influence, environmental responsibility can still feel treated as an optional add-on rather than something meaningfully integrated into the overall consumer experience, often appearing only briefly during payment instead of throughout the broader consumer journey.

Beyond symbolic sustainability

I still believe these sustainability efforts matter. In many ways, it is encouraging to see more businesses and online services trying to integrate environmental responsibility into everyday life.

Growing skepticism around some green initiatives may actually reflect a more thoughtful public response instead of people simply accepting every environmental claim without question.

Many people still care deeply about sustainability and environmental responsibility.  What they are searching for is not only the opportunity to contribute financially, but also a clearer sense of trust, understanding, and long-term meaning behind the choices presented to them.

At the end of the day, most people probably do want to contribute towards a better future. They simply want reassurance that their contribution carries meaning beyond a brief moment on a screen.

*Nur Shahira Abdullah is a sustainability practitioner and a Master’s student in Sustainability Science at the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), Gombak.

** This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.