Sustainability
Photo by Margot Richard
Sustainability and the consumerism are uneasy bedfellows.
While we continue to be bombarded with ‘gotta haves’ through media, social media, on the high street and in the shopping centre, the clock is ticking on the climate crisis.
We have become disconnected from the earth and continue to dump more and more stuff into landfill, open more and more charity shops, and as Nero played while Rome burned, in the first world, we live like there’s no tomorrow.
Since the 1960’s we’ve been hearing about global warming and still we continue to create a huge mess for our children to clean up. The excellent quality of our lives is at enormous cost to those in the third world who have been suffering from climate disasters for many years already. Even though we see and hear about this issue every day, we often don’t know what we can do about it. It seems overwhelming. And we hear confusing arguments particularly about the role of the individual versus that of government and big business.
We thought it might be useful to outline some simple steps which we all can do on a daily basis to help sustain life on our planet.
Repair, Reuse, Recycle – the old chestnut. Upgrading our laptop, phone or washing machine has become easy but the cost to the third world of supplying the components for our ‘upgrades’ is phenomenal. It’s easy to find the information of how the children suffer in mining some of the components for our sleek glamourous tech and there is now a serious onus on us to repair our equipment, to reuse rather than replace our goods and to recycle that which we cannot repair or reuse.
Reduce is a holy word in sustainability. Reduce the amount of food we are buying and wasting. Reduce the time we spend in the shower. Reduce the amount we use the car. Reduce the temperature of our home heating. Reduce the amount of clothes, shoes, and makeup we buy and reduce our spending on fast fashion.
Feed the birds, the bees, the insects – resist the urge to spray that beautiful harbinger of Spring, the dandelion, first food of the bees; appreciate the nettle for its role in sustaining a healthy eco balance and local biodiversity. Plant bee-friendly herbs and flowers, even a window box will make a difference.
Think Global, Shop Local – another old sustainability chestnut. The decision to shop locally contributes hugely to sustainability. It eliminates thousands of airmiles, supports the local farmers and growers, contributes to the local economy, feeds us fresher food.
And it’s not just food which comes from our own area but supporting local business, artists, etc. contributes in all kinds of way to help slow down the destruction of our planet and, eventually, even those of us privileged to live in this part of the world.
Become Conscious. Wake Up. There’s no such thing as a free lunch. Everything we do impacts our Gaia in a positive or negative way. While living on earth can be an absolute joy, we can’t afford to close or eyes to the fact that living this consumerist life, buying everything we want when we want it, has a hugely negative impact on our earth and on other parts of the world.
Beware Greenwashing. Some big businesses have become experts at greenwashing. While destroying our planet, in a massive act of ‘smoke and mirrors’ they draw attention to one or two comparatively small acts of planetary kindness.
Ask Questions – where does it come from? Where is it made? Are any people, animals, plants or habitats being destroyed in its manufacture or transport? Do you really need it? Can you repair it? Are you really going to be any happier for having that extra ‘thing’ in it?
Don’t despair – yes, it can feel overwhelming, yes you can see that the big boys/girls are really not listening, but you are making changes.
You are waking up. You are doing a monthly ‘shopping fast’, objecting to trees being cut down, having conversations with your neighbours, turning off your lights in the other room.
You are being the change which could save the world and your children.