What is sustainable? Why sustainable?

By Devika Kulkarni

“If it can’t be reduced, reused, repaired, rebuilt, refurbished, refinished, resold, recycled, or composted, then it should be restricted, redesigned or removed from production” ~ Pete Seeger

These words proclaim the urge to adopt and nurture the concept of Biocentrism. Ecology is the nest of all the sacred approaches which thereby binds nature as the Superior Entity. In recent times we have seen that the threat to the environmental elements is widening and increasing at alarming rate. Greta Thunberg, an environmental activist has decoded the impacts of Climate change with its enormous escalation in carbon equivalents. The growing problem on environment is possessing huge debt on mankind’s fiery living. Hence to encounter the compounds of emergent, a systematic, cohesive and ecological lifestyle needs to be adopted. Sustainability can be mantled as the virtuous culture that should be implemented in our society in order to face the collective peril posing on environment. This concept of sustainable living is gaining grounds now-a-days promoting reduction in carbon footprints.

Sustainable Living is a significant lifestyle practices which aims at reducing the demand for natural resources and attempts to procure its use at its best ability. It is thus a method of decreasing the carbon footprints and one’s societal and personal impact on environmental concerns. It is to be essentially noted that the growing climatic and natural concerns need to be curbed at the right time. Sustainable living encourages one to bind into the spectrum of environmental equilibrium. The effects are strategically distributive onto the mankind administrating the various facets of living. It also sometimes strikes with the zero-energy-balance or net-zero-living. Such act ensures releasing the thriving extreme pressure of carbon equivalents, nullifying its usage and thereby counteracts the Climate change. Maximizing our global stewardship is necessary to acknowledge the growing fumes of environmental damage.

Stabilizing our needs is an important step moving towards the waste reduction. In today’s living fashion every person are attracted to the culture of online shopping but the burden of its explosion is none the less. In fact it is initiating the more transportation costs, usage of plastic wrappers, big paper boxes and thereby increasing the pollutant equivalents. Such practices need to be counter at earlier stages to envisage a better place to live in. Let’s have a look at some tips and tricks:-

1. “Go Vegan, Go Veggie” - it is observed that meat and dairy products own the land of about 83% of farmland and accumulates overall 60% of agricultural industry’s 13.7 billion tons of Greenhouse gas emission. The research done by National Resources Defense Council’s report embarks the fact that, more beef is leading to appreciating carbon footprints. Thus we should annote the tagline of “ Less Meat Less Carbon”

2. Organic and regenerative farming is a practice of planting and nurturing a plant a year will help to reduce the C02 and other pollutants emissions. Kitchen waste can be initiated to compost enabling organic nutrients. This initiative will give momentum to various facets of lifestyle ethos.

3. Sustainable travel and tourism must be held at top tier by the use of reusable water and food container. It should be held upon as an Obligatory Movement.

4. Growing your own Produce portrays the organic living and sustaining the pressure thereby on other resources.

5. Culminating the usage of renewable energy which is the stepping stone of building Green and Sustained Technology.

The prudent mantra of Reduce the unnecessary stuffs, Reuse the things to its fullest extent, Recycle the products which you can’t Reduce and Reuse, and finally Rot (compost) the rest. Thus it will guide the Journey of sustainability.

It is always notified being the strength of Community as the great influencers of the entire mankind. When one tries to sustain themselves with trivial or minimal practices, it drives the large chain of amendment. As individuals, we may feel small, but collectively it gives impetus to huge impact. Every single person should embrace the ways we can change our own behavior to benefit the earth, no matter how simple it may seem.

The little changes you make today mean a lot for tomorrow - and from there the sky’s the limit.