What does Sustainability really mean?

The definition of the word sustainability is “the ability to be maintained at a certain rate or level”. This could be applied to many different scenarios, however today I will be discussing the importance of sustainable living, and how easy it can be to live sustainably.

Many of you are probably thinking, “What actually is sustainable living?”. My answer is this: sustainable living is a choice that one makes to reduce their footprint on the world. It is making our lives and our children’s lives greener, cleaner and happier. It is the act of preventing a world where there are fewer animals and fewer plants. Sustainable living can include anything from using more public transport to eating more organically sourced food. To put it simply, sustainable living can help to improve your health, your community’s health and the health of the planet.

There are countless easy and cheap ways of living sustainably an I am going to be explaining ten of the best and most efficient ways to do this:

1. Recycle regularly. Harmful products such as plastic should not be discarded with regular waste and should instead be recycled in order to prevent it from ending up in the oceans or in landfill sites.

2. Use more public transport. Walk, bus or even car-pool, there are so many ways of getting to work that are more environmentally friendly than using cars as a go-to method of transport.

3. Avoid plastic. Whether it means using metal or glass bottles instead of plastic ones, or using less plastic bags, any means of using less plastic will benefit the environment, no matter how small.

4. Change your light bulbs. Replace your traditional light bulbs with compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) which use less power and give off less heat. Luckily, CFL bulbs are normally cheaper than the traditional light bulbs, so you will be saving money while saving the environment.

5. Eat locally sourced food. If you consume less food from around the world, then air miles will be reduced and so your carbon footprint will become smaller, while benefiting your health, as locally sourced food is less likely to contain preservatives and other harmful chemicals.

6. Use less water. Whether it means taking more showers and less baths, or reducing how often you use dishwashers, washing machines or other appliances, reducing your water usage decreases pressure on water providers and reduces the amount of water being wasted per year.

7. Use natural fuels. Instead of using oil and coal, one could burn organic matter such as biomass, straw, wood, or even used vegetable oil, to produce a more environmentally friendly fuel.

8. Turn things off when not in use. This includes lights, chargers and electronic appliances, all of which consume large amounts of power and electricity, using a lot of energy and increasing your carbon footprint.

9. Reduce meat consumption. Mass meat production releases huge amounts of Methane into the atmosphere, which is a greenhouse gas contributing to the greenhouse effect. This means that, if less meat is consumed, less is produced therefore less Methane is released into the atmosphere.

10. Talk. The more people you inspire to live sustainably, the quicker our world can recover from the damage which it is already experiencing and suffering from. Tell your friends, your family, or anyone that can make a difference, no matter how small.

By now you should have noticed how easy it is to reduce your impact on the world and how it doesn’t have to affect or change the way you live and your normal daily routines. Next time you think of these strategies, think of the environment. You are changing the world, one step at a time.