Too Busy Mopping to Turn Off the Tap

As with most parents, my mornings and life blood are fuelled by the beautiful brown elixir that is coffee. We even splurged on our own machine and our Covid panic buy was not extra toilet paper, but 20 kg of green beans and an at-home roaster.

Owning a home coffee machine comes with both advantages and challenges. The water tank requires frequent refilling and it’s easy to overfill when in a rush. After one particularly sleepless night, I did exactly that, but instead of the usual little spill needing a wipe, the water kept coming. And coming. Dish cloths, hand towels, and even a bath towel couldn’t contain the mess, leaving my kitchen (and myself) soaked. Eventually, I discovered that I had accidentally knocked the view tube, causing all 4 litres of water to drain out. Had I noticed and corrected the tube earlier, the leak would have stopped immediately.

I’ve been thinking my reaction is pretty normal when we are under pressure with immediate challenges to address. We find ourselves diving into solutions without diagnosing the problem. We focus our energy on managing the immediate consequences, rather than taking the time to identify and address the root causes. Often, we blindly respond to the most obvious symptoms, without re-examining the systems that allow these situations to occur in the first place.

This “problem blindness” can result in echo chambers as we seek help from those who re-assure ourselves rather than challenge. In a crisis, if you call for help and say, “It’s an overflow, just mop faster” chances are your helpers will dive straight in, no questions asked. Which makes sense as I’m pretty sure heads will roll if they didn’t. But sometimes these helpers need to be free to point out the leaking tube, even if it’s not what you want to hear at that moment. And when you’re drowning under the pressure, there is no right moment.

For our environment, this reactive mindset can have real consequences. We scramble to create policy that appears good to the voting public, we protect the rights we have now without thinking about the next generation, and we look to blame rather than work together constructively, while the root causes—short-term thinking, systemic gaps in policy, and a lack of collective vision—remain unaddressed. We risk burnout, wasted resources, and, ultimately, missing the opportunity for lasting change.

The tough truth? Panic narrows our vision. Calm, creative thinking expands it—giving us the chance to innovate and adapt. When the water (or environmental challenges) is pouring out, what we need most is the uncomfortable pause to step back and look for the view tube. Our best environmental policies and solutions are rarely quick fixes. They demand collective honesty, structural shifts, and the willingness to see what we’ve been missing in the rush to clean up.

With a complete overhaul of environmental regulations on the cards, maybe it is finally time to take a breath and look at the big picture so we can finally lift the tube and get the environmental outcomes we all want.

Eva Harris is Principal Environmental Advisor, Enviro Collective