Table 3.

Aspects of eco-guilt.

Category	Example
Prophetic individual responsibility	“And if I don’t acquaint people with the idea, explain it to them, educate them, and show the harm, then they won’t understand and then they won’t do anything” (Participant 5).
Self-criticism, self-examination, self-blame	“(…) Or, for example, when I thought about how many sanitary pads I was going to use as a woman, a fertile woman, in my following 20–30 active years. And I decided to switch to reusable sanitary pads on my 27th birthday” (Participant 15). “I ask myself from time to time what else I could do to act in a more environmentally friendly manner” (Participant 2).
Guilt/individual responsibility criticism	“I had a very interesting conversation with one of my acquaintances. He was the one who said that he thinks this whole environmentalism is harmful to the environment. In fact, the individual contribution to pollution is so little compared to how much waste factories emit. And by persuading the well-educated, wealthier classes who could lobby factories to facilitate change… With all sorts of bullshit messages like “Recycle!”, “Turn off the lights!”, “Be vegan!”, and so on… they feel like they’re doing something for the environment. But it rather prevents them from going above a certain level of anxiety and tension so they don’t force factories to make radical changes” (Participant 13).
Dissatisfaction with one’s actions	“I often feel that what I can do is far from enough” (Participant 7). “I also feel a little bit guilty that I don’t really care about this topic right now because there are some very enthusiastic climate advocates even in the closest circle of my friends. And when I somehow scrambled home between two parties yesterday, I had a kebab in my hand, and I was so full that I threw away the leftover. And I’ve been feeling guilty ever since” (Participant 4).
Feeling guilty about one’s past	“(…) I also felt something like that, that the way I have lived over the last 10–30 years has also contributed to this” (Participant 17). “Then there is the issue of housekeeping, for example. I was kind of a compulsive cleaner, a person who kept everything clean. I couldn’t stand it if there was a stain on the table or counter and… I used very, very strong chemicals” (Participant 15).
System maintenance guilt	“(…) Because of the daily comfort of people and the whole system—capitalism and globalism—built on it. And because of them, it is simply inevitable that you will be a part of it” (Participant 17).
Dilemma of harm	“At the same time, I have to think about it, if my products include tropical fruit in January, which is not seasonal at all, am I doing more damage than he does by using plastic bags?” (Participant 15).
Guilt for one’s existence	“(…) But then I felt such remorse that I produce a lot of unnecessary rubbish just through my existence, and it really caused unpleasant feelings on a daily basis. And then I tortured myself a lot by saying that the way I exist and… I don’t know, my needs and the things I do, like my job, are not indispensable… and it was so depressing” (Participant 16).