The United Nation’s International Day of Peace, which was held on Sept. 21, “provides an opportunity for all humanity to come together, in spirit and in action, to forward the ideals of and conditions,” according to their website.
Practicing environmental sustainability is one idea that many tend to consider towards the beginning of autumn as leaves begin to change and apple picking season begins. It leads to homegrown and homemade goods far better than what we find in supermarkets.
Sure, the girl who admittedly does just about as much as reusing plastic water bottles, shuts the lights off when she’s not in the room.
However, these are just some small efforts regarding sustainable living. It makes a considerable difference in our environment and consumer culture.
Sustainability is defined as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs,” according to UCLA’s sustainability website.
Part of what sustainability does is use the environmental and technological resources we already have in a way that is less abusive and wasteful to our global ecosystem and destructive of our current and future quality of life. Sustainability is using “just enough” instead of “too much.”
Looking at how “just enough” of whatever goods we have can be versatile means they can be applied for different purposes to conserve time, money and energy. Being conscious about small things like where we buy our clothes and how much water, electricity, synthetic dyes and work hours are used in that production. We can better judge and support more localized, repurposed and organic consumerism.
Getting on board with sustainability, although it is becoming “trendier” and more mainstream, doesn’t make it any less valuable to society.
If anything, pop culture is doing us all a favor by hinting that there are better ways to attain the same things we need or want on a daily basis. Knowing the who, why, when, where and how of what we consume and use will make us more insightful and compassionate individuals towards ourselves, the land we live on, the tools and faraway lands that act as resources for our needs.
Maybe going into the month of October, consider changing one small everyday thing that you do to something more sustainable.
Try to keep track of how much time, money and resources it saves you and then think of how that one action, multiplied by millions of people, can lead to greater global peace in more ways than just environmentally.
