True sustainability

Part i. Introduction - Sustaining the earth

“sustain… v.t. bear weight of or support, esp. for a long period; endure, stand; undergo or suffer (defeat, injury, loss, etc.);…uphold; substantiate or corroborate; keep up (effort etc).” The Little Oxford Dictionary of Current English, 1986, Oxford University Press.

It has been proven that the current global warming and climate change crisis is as a result of our excess consumption as a human race, which has produced excessive amounts of carbon dioxide and other warming gases in the atmosphere – excess consumption of petrol and petroleum or plastic products, of virgin rainforests, of meat and dairy foods, and the requisite energy and water such consumption costs. In addition, the waste from this consumption is also adding to the climate change crisis – as our landfills and sewers bloat and grow, they too release gases and pollutants that require more energy to contain and treat – but more often than not they are released into the atmosphere or environment.

All of this has resulted in a call for more “sustainable living”, or, living in a way that ensures the Earth’s long-term survival, and therefore our and our children’s health, well-being and quality of life.

The time of enduring change, of supporting the Earth’s natural processes, of adapting to our environments as opposed to trying to control them has come.

As has often been written (if not practiced) before, truly sustainable living involves more than just reactive measures to external prompts. It involves more than limiting showers to 4 minutes because the local or state governments have set water restriction guidelines due to an inconvenient drought; it involves more than reducing electricity usage (especially air conditioners!.) because it may seem de rigueur for the time being; it involves more than cycling to work, or catching public transport because the price of petrol is unpalatable (as an aside, just in case you hadn’t caught on, it also means more than voting for whichever political party is going to guarantee low petrol prices).

Living sustainably involves proactively seeking to reduce your individual consumption and resultant non-degradable waste to the point where you can fulfil all your personal and household requirements without it (literally) “costing the earth”. It means foreseeing the consequences of one’s actions, however minor, and seeking to reduce the impact on other people, or the environment at large.

In order for sustainable living to become a reality, the differences between “want” and “need” in individual consumption; and between “re-usable/recyclable/degradable/non-degradable waste” in individual waste management need to be asked  and addressed at a deeply personal level.

The historical and current lack of sustainable practices in our lives, and the fact that it affects every dimension of our daily lives, explains the difficulty in reducing global warming and stopping climate change – sustainability may involve (deeply) uncomfortable self-assessment, and even more uncomfortable adjustment to new ways of thinking and acting.

However, it is becoming increasingly obvious that such change, however painful, is necessary in order for our (not to mention future generations) survival.

To come in this series:

ii. Material addiction and the consumption transaction

iii. The culture of waste

iv. Ethos and accountability

v. Pro-activity & conclusion