Social media is an entire universe of overflowing content from cats roaming around with cameras, to teenagers making jokes about their lives. Many consider social media platforms to be a place where brains go to die, but there is a side to social media that strives to make a difference in the world.
“Greenfluencers” are a group of influencers who focus their content on sustainability and green living. Sabs Katz, a 29-year-old based in New York City, New York, is one of many “greenfluencers” gracing social media.
Known by her handle, SustainableSabs, Katz utilizes Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and her own personal blog.
With now 27.9 thousand followers, Katz started from humble beginnings. She first found herself writing blog posts in high school to help her friends decide where they should get lunch. From there, Katz moved on to college and a new blog dedicated to zero waste and veganism. About a year after the start of the blog, she started her own page on Instagram.
Katz’s goals were clear from the start. Community was an important factor for the creator. She reveals, “I was looking for a sense of community and finding other people who were also living low waste and sharing their tips just so I would be able to learn from them.”
Not only was having her own platform a community experience, it was and still is a way to keep herself accountable in her sustainability journey.
As time has gone on, Katz states, “I use it as an opportunity to flex my creativity. I appreciate the freedom of being able to use my imagination and talk about things I care about.”
Many “greenfluencers” take a specific direction in sustainability. Some put all their attention toward stopping fast fashion, others toward the benefits of composting.
Katz said her primary focal point at first was “veganism and zero waste living,” but “over the years, I have expanded my understanding of environmentalism, and I now take a much more holistic approach.”
Her platform now finds its area simply in sustainability and environmentalism.
Katz states, “More recently, I’ve been talking a lot about slow fashion, environmental justice and wellness and composting.”
Environmental justice has been incredibly important to Katz in more recent years. In fact, she is part of a nonprofit organization dedicated to intersectional environmentalism, a term Katz describes as, “a type of environmentalism that is holistic and recognizes the inequalities and inequities present in our world as a result of systemic oppression.”
The organization, Intersectional Environmentalist, founded by Leah Thomas encourages people “to approach environmentalism without minimizing or silencing various people’s voices such as the people who are primarily impacted by the climate crisis, those frontline communities, who are largely BIPOC and low-income folks.”
Sustainability and living sustainably can be intimidating to the average person. From the outside looking in, living sustainably means changing everything about daily living and habits.
Katz argues the contrary. She states, “There’s a lot of focus on individual action, but it’s almost coming from the elitist perspective of, ‘well, I can buy this reusable razor, and I can buy this expensive product and be sustainable.’”
She goes on to say, “I think there is a tendency to look down upon or create this sense of shame against people who aren’t doing all of these perfectly sustainable things.”
Instead, Katz suggests to “do something… whether that be bringing all your reusable bags to the grocery store or starting to compost.” Making these a habit is the most important thing to start off with. “Slow and steady wins the race” as Katz mentions.
The “greenfluencer” community is a special one, but there can be issues that arise. The main one is sponsorships. Larger influencers sometimes get lost in the multiple sponsorships coming their way. This leads them to partner with brands that don’t value sustainability the way the creators do.
For Katz, choosing who to partner with comes down to trust. She doesn’t choose a brand unless she feels comfortable the brand is working toward sustainability and is accessible to the common consumer.
Katz’s advice is to “be mindful of the partnerships that they’re taking and make sure they’re connecting and authentic.”
Goals are the main driving force for creators. Besides spreading sustainability, Katz has a few personal platform goals. She says, “Next year I’ll be turning 30, and my goal before then is to hit 30,000 followers.”
Another goal of hers is to begin hosting sustainability events.
The world of “greenfluencers” is full of creators trying to make a difference for the better. Whether it be simple lifestyle changes or environmental justice, Sabs Katz is going above and beyond to make the world a greener place.
