Sust...even my fingers fall asleep typing the blasted word. And I have to type it more than most - as I run a sust...(there they go again) - ethical lifestyle magazine.
The problem isn't with the wonderful things we cover, such as fashion brands making swimwear from plastic bottles or people who decide to drive to Australia in an electric car with no money because, y'know, awareness.
The problem isn't with the long hours and hard work that is part of launching a new title on a shoestring budget and litres of coffee (made at home in a kettle rather than drinking trendy flat whites in throw away coffee cups - because y'know the environment). I embrace all of that, even the crafting of hashtags lists, which seems to reduce my 15 years editing experience to a random collection of adjectives.
It's the fact there's no way to explain what I do, what I care about, what pebble passionately supports without using the words sustainable, ethical and eco.
Surely no words have made people switch off faster (apart from maybe mortgage rates or fiscal tax policy). People equate them with pious bores who judge how much toilet paper you use or that glamping experience you thought was going to be like Swiss Family Robinson but was actually just a cold MDF shed with a candle and nowhere to cook.
Greenwashing has killed off our tolerance for these words at a time when the people working in these areas are absolutely killing it. We're talking water bottles you can eat, mushroom leather you can wear, plants that power your phone and that's just the start.
There are so many fabulous, exciting, innovative developments happening in every industry from fashion to farming and so many interesting, engaging stories to be told. We're doing our bit on pebble talking to the people who are rethinking everything, from what we eat to where we live.
But really, I want to live in a world where sustainability doesn't exist. I don't have to utter the stupid word, because we've nailed it. We're not ringing our hands at the 85% of our wardrobes that end up in landfills or the five billion coffee cups we've thrown in the bin each year (that take up to 30 years to decompose), but are going about our lives safe in the knowledge we'll still have a planet to live on in 100 years time. We won't need these boring words then and I won't have the frustration of trying to communicate something as shiny as a star with a word as dull as ditchwater.
Even if you're not that concerned about the environmental issues we face, isn't it worth seeing how you can make a difference, just to stop people like me banging on about ethical and sustainable...(snore).
For more on ethical fashion, eco-travel, food and green design head over to pebble.