Written by Bruna
Edited by Emil Koch & Hanna Karasinska
What is a sustainable lifestyle?
The term sustainable lifestyle is directly about the approach we take to live and adapt ourselves to the world around us, meaning the understanding that our smallest choices can have impacts. Sustainable living is about changing our behaviors and aiming at lowering the impact on the environment. There are diverse ways to reach it that will benefit you, the planet, and those around you. It is not about drastic changes but the small ones that can create a significant difference entirely.
Things that contribute to a sustainable lifestyle:
A sustainable lifestyle is mainly based on minimizing waste, limiting the use of Earth’s natural resources, the wise use of the environment, and ensuring quality working/living environments. The earth can benefit greatly from your daily decisions to adopt a sustainable lifestyle. It is first and foremost an essential step toward living sustainably. A substitute for traditional energy sources is to adopt eco-friendly technologies in your home, such as LED lighting or energy-efficient home appliances. But saving energy doesn’t have to be expensive. On the contrary, you can save energy by unplugging unused devices and turning off unnecessary lighting. In fact, gadgets on standby consume nearly 23% of a home’s total energy needs, according to a 2015 NRDC study. Moreover, Danpal reports that daylighting can save up to 75% of energy used for lighting and reduce expenditures for cooling buildings. If you wash your clothes at 30 rather than 40 degrees Celsius, you can lower energy consumption by around 40% per year, after Energy Saving Trust. In this regard, it is important to note that modern detergents work perfectly effectively at lower temperatures, as well.
How can we achieve climate neutral transportation? While hybrid and electric cars are good for environmentally friendly transportation, they are not accessible to everyone. Fortunately, there are alternative options, like public transit, which is necessary for lowering the number of cars on the road. Less cars on the road would reduce carbon emissions, traffic congestion, and potentially deaths by accidents. Indeed, the American Public Transportation Association found that public transportation is ten to 18-times safer per mile than driving by car. Want to upgrade your greenhouse gas emission card? According to the UN, switching from a car to public transit can reduce your emissions by up to 2.2 tons of carbon dioxide annually. Additionally, cycling and walking improve both your health and the environment. Active commuting by bike can mitigate the risk of type 2 diabetes and cancer-related mortality by 30%.
Minimizing waste Lowering waste in every area of your life is another move to achieve a sustainable lifestyle. Approximately 500 billion single-use plastic bags are used annually, translating to an average usage time of 15 minutes per bag. These numbers illustrate how using reusable grocery bags can aid the climate. In 2022, 415 million metric tons of paper were consumed globally. The paper you use in your office, business, and at school adds to this picture. To give you an idea of how much paper usage destroys the environment, here are some facts. According to World Counts, producing one single A4 sheet of paper requires ten liters of water, and one ream or 500 sheets of paper eats up 6% of a single tree. Further, thanks to recycling and reusing paper and disposable products, you can avoid emitting around 68 kg of carbon given an average monthly trash of 38 kg.
Shifting your shopping behavior is also a great way to contribute and lower your impact on the planet. Nowadays, there are plenty of eco-friendly product options. Eco-friendly products are those that meet the standards for how their manufacturing, packaging, delivery, use, and disposal affect the environment. Every industry has eco-friendly products often certified by third-party organizations. Some examples are clothing made of organic cotton, furniture made of sustainable materials, and bamboo toothbrushes. There are even sustainable products for your pet.
Recycling is the procedure of gathering, processing, and remanufacturing waste materials including plastic, paper, metal, and glass into new products. It is often made by recycling businesses, but we may still assist them by properly using recycling containers. You can also reuse your materials plenty of times in different ways without going through a recycling process. That is when you put your creativity into practice. There is plenty of content on the internet about how to reuse recyclable materials and make useful things. An interesting site where you can see some ideas is Recyclart.
Last but not least, everyone has a pair of jeans or a jacket hidden somewhere in their closet that they barely even remember having. Giving can be a great way to begin living sustainably. You will assist someone in need in addition to helping the environment. And give another change of your donated item to be used.
Why is it Important to live sustainably?
According to UNEP, by 2050, the world’s population may reach 10 billion. The growing population will require more resources, yet our world is on the edge of resources. Our lifestyles of fast fashion and overconsumption put the planet under the threat of global biodiversity loss.
Many species are disappearing because of our rampant lifestyles, possibly eradicating half of all species by the end of the century.
Applying sustainable living to your daily activities and teaching your family and friends will benefit not only you and people in your immediate vicinity but also the ecosystem and biodiversity. It will also be crucial for future generations. At this time, even the smallest positive change is important.
By small and incremental changes in individual lives, we can embark on a journey of efficient resource usage and circular economy that will allow humanity to live within the guardrails of planetarian boundaries for generations to come. A human culture in harmony with nature’s preconditions will ensure intergenerational equity and planetarian safety.
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References:
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[2] Sustainable lifestyles. (n.d.). UNEP - UN Environment Programme. https://www.unep.org/explore-topics/resource-efficiency/what-we-do/sustainable-lifestyles; (Accessed on (08/31/2023)
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[5] The energy savings of daylighting - Danpal. (2020, August 24). Danpal. https://danpal.com/environmental/the-energy-savings-of-daylighting/; (Accessed on (08/31/2023)
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[8] World Health Organization: WHO. (2022, June 7). Cycling and walking can help reduce physical inactivity and air pollution, save lives and mitigate climate change. WHO. https://www.who.int/europe/news/item/07-06-2022-cycling-and-walking-can-help-reduce-physical-inactivity-and-air-pollution--save-lives-and-mitigate-climate-change; (Accessed on (08/31/2023)
[9] Plastic Oceans International. (2021, July 21). Plastic Pollution Facts | PlasticOceans.org/the-facts. https://plasticoceans.org/the-facts/#:~:text=Annually%2C%20approximately%20500%20billion%20plastic,working%20life%E2%80%9D%20of%2015%20minutes; (Accessed on (08/31/2023)
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