A Quick Lesson on Sustainable Living

When I started to learn about sustainability and climate change, I felt compelled to do my part and take action to become more environmentally friendly. At the time, I had no idea how consuming this may be. My path to living a sustainable lifestyle is still in progress, and as I learn more, I take new actions, but for now, there are a few practices I use to reduce my footprint and make caring decisions. This includes reducing my energy use, opting for different modes of travel, switching products for greener options, shopping consciously, and changing to a plant-based diet. As I become aware of the impacts of my decisions, I make changes to reduce that impact to the best I can, but one thing I have learned about trying to live more sustainably is that a lot of the time it comes down to our consumption.

As a member of modern society, I feel the pressure of consumerism through marketing, sales, and other people’s behaviours. When you see others consuming and living a lavish lifestyle, you think you want the same. But, when you break down the background of consumption, you begin to question the necessity and ethics of your consumerism. From an environmental standpoint, there is so much waste and pollution because of mass manufacturing, as well as the emissions of energy use from production to transportation. In the fashion industry, we see intense water usage, pollution, and waste. In the food industry, we see unsustainable land management, deforestation, and unethical treatment of animals. Unless businesses are actively trying to make a change, all industries and sectors have some kind of environmental impact. From a social perspective, people are subject to unsafe working conditions, unfair wages, forced labour, and so much more. The cost of consumerism is far greater than what comes out of your pocket.

So, if you are thinking about setting out for a more sustainable lifestyle, I recommend breaking down your consumption. This can be your consumption of food, water, clothes, energy, and really any level of consumption in your life. By breaking down what this all looks like, you can take the first step and tackle one topic at a time. Some questions I suggest asking yourself are:

· Where did this product come from?
Has it been imported or produced locally?

· How was this produced?
Can you track the production of an item and find out the practices and conditions of workers?

· What are the environmental and social impacts of this product? And,

· Is this product a necessity?
We can reduce our environmental impact by limiting our consumption to things we need rather than everything we may want.

There is no perfect solution to sustainable living, but by asking ourselves some of these questions, we can begin to understand the practices behind consumption and reduce our environmental footprint through consuming consciously, choosing greener options, and reducing our consumption. Living a sustainable lifestyle is easier to introduce when taken step by step, and I can ensure that it feels good to live a lifestyle that aligns with your values.

Please let me know what sustainable practices you use and how you introduced these into your lifestyle!