Sustainability and me

 

Given the increase of natural disasters in places such as Australia, Asia and more recently the South of Europe as well as the overall 'weird' weather that the UK has been facing in the past months (i.e, the supposed tornado of London from a few weeks back), now more than ever are people aware of climate change and the need to stop it. 

But how can we? That is the average human being. The main perpetrators of excessive emissions of greenhouse gases is not the average person but large corporations. With certain billionaires at the helm of these corporations, who place a thrill ride to space over saving the planet, it seems that our plea to prevent the earth dying is being ignored by those who have the most power to stop climate change. 

Whilst things look bleak on this front there is still much that we as individuals can do to prevent even the smallest amount of harm being done to our planet. Importantly if we, the average human beings, all chip in as much as we can, we can seriously stand as a worthy foe against climate change. The key weapon against climate change being sustainability and there are three key steps to consider. 

Firstly there is Reduce and Review. That means reducing the waste which you produce, by making smart decisions about the products you buy. For example, you could abandon products which have an excess of packaging, such as by avoiding the small plastic bags you are provided in supermarkets to carry individual vegetables.  Additionally it is  important to reduce the amount of products you buy. Fast fashion in particular is a big contributor to climate change, through factories constantly producing clothing items which often find themselves on landfill after a couple of wears, a great degree of greenhouse gases are produced. Thus to be more sustainable is simple, buy less clothes, think about how likely and how often you are going to wear the item before purchasing it. If possible also buy somewhat more expensive items of clothing, as they are more likely to last thus less clothing items will be thrown away. This idea can be extended in other areas. For example, one could buy a menstrual cup, instead of buying menstrual products monthly and adding to unnecessary waste. Menstrual cups are available to buy from most pharmacies and can be reused for over 5 years. So whilst the cup is far more expensive than perhaps a monthly purchase of menstrual products you are likely to be saving money after 6 months of reusing it. Reducing your waste is perhaps the most important step to preventing climate change and the best way to reduce your waste is to reduce your purchases.

I think before moving on an important statement needs to be made that many environmentalists tend to overlook. As expressed before the average human being cannot prevent climate change on their own. If you can only afford to buy cheaper clothing, clothing which is likely to wear out sooner, or you cannot realistically afford a menstrual cup at this moment in time then thats fine. You do not contribute to climate change alone so take it one step at a time and only reduce to the point you can afford, do not feel guilty that you cannot do more. 

The next step is Reusing. If a table no longer matches your decor, repaint it, redecorate it for you to repurpose in your own home or sell. Up-cycling old furniture can fetch a pretty penny whilst saving the planet at the same time because your old furniture doesn't end up on landfill and new products will not need to be made. It is also important to donate items you no longer want to charities this not only reduces waste being put onto landfill and greenhouse gases being produced but also provides people access to items they could otherwise not afford. 

Finally Recycle. This is perhaps the step most are familiar with and is the easiest to replicate. Simply separate items such as paper (and any other items your local council instructs) from general waste as it will reduce the damage to the environment that general landfill waste causes. One recycling tip that may be of interest is that you can buy a compost bin from your local council rather cheaply. This reduces a lot of food waste whilst also providing you with compost of your own to use on your garden as you please and make the world a greener place. 

Climate change is here, there is no doubt about it and whilst we as individuals cannot stop it on our own there are many ways to reduce our waste and by doing so prevent its disastrous effects.

Some of these great ideas and insights were learned while i was particpating in a sustainability conference in Finland in 2019 called Looplife whereI learned about initiatives from Northern Europe to spread information about at home.