The not so - sustainable us
A glimpse at what going green really means..
What is Sustainability? What is this movement of “green everything” that you are missing from? I will walk you through the most heard yet very much ignored concept of all — The Sustainable us.
As we all know, sustainability is nothing but being self-sufficient in our lifestyle, our consumptions, so on and so forth, but it is often misunderstood as something that disrupts your convenient living. Words like SDGs, Carbon footprints can be intimidating for someone who is new to this. Many people even think that these words themselves are overused and confusing making them feel they are majorly related to environmental issues only, while it is clearly not just that!
What is it then ?
We all use hundreds of products on a day to day basis. These products could be identified as food, healthcare, sanitation, education, apparels and more. But, it would be very hard to believe that most of these things we assume to be harmless are actually intoxicated to its core.
Even the essential goods such as clothes, drinking water, food and more are impacted. The colour used to dye our clothes (contains some amount of chemicals), the bottles used to pack our water (we all know what we are dealing with plastics), the pesticides used to protect our produce (contains harmful chemicals, killing not just out natural fertilisers but also intoxicate our food) all of these are business opportunities than eco-efficient solutions.
This is where sustainability matters. Sustainability also consists of wellbeing of not just us but our entire community. It addresses problems such as poverty, hunger, gender inequality and more. It is important to note here that, these problems are not unsolvable. We are just a solution away from making it happen.
When we read articles on green movements, on people trying to change how we function as a society and how we are blindfolded by these manufacturers, it becomes our duty to at least understand what they do or how they are creating the kind of change we are not able to. Eco-efficient solutions are to be promoted, appreciated and celebrated.
What you can do?
Most of us do not care about it, while some of us believe we cannot do anything about it. But what if I told you that there are organisations, companies and communities trying to solve these issues to its roots and you can also play a role in it.
Companies like Ecosia, Boxed Water and many more are working towards creating smaller solutions which can solve major problems with just change in options by the consumers.
As consumers, we can start using steel straws instead of plastic straws, use re-usable bottles instead of buying a plastic water bottle, avoid wastage of food, grow some plants, wear sustainable clothes, use re-usable shopping bags, grow indoor plants, donate to organisations who function towards these objectives, buy from farmer’s market, support local businesses, plant a tree, feed a dog and the list goes on..
As already mentioned, let us not misunderstand “sustainability” as an overwhelming life decision, while it’s just being smarter and generous in the choices we make..
