Late last month, I had the honor of representing Friends of the Lower Olentangy Watershed (FLOW)
as a guest speaker at the Ohio State Undergraduate Student Government (USG)
forum titled “How to Live Sustainably.” I thought I would take a few moments to
post some of the presentation topics.
For those of you unfamiliar with the concept of
sustainability, I must warn you that a simple Google search will result in many
different definitions, interpretations, and misinterpretations of this concept.
To keep things simple, I will use the description from the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency web page (as of 11/1/2017):
“Sustainability is based on a
simple principle: Everything that we need for our survival and well-being
depends, either directly or indirectly, on our natural environment. To pursue
sustainability is to create and maintain the conditions under which humans and
nature can exist in productive harmony to support present and future
generations.” USEPA
Sustainability Web Page
Another way to look at sustainability is shown in the
attached figure. This figure can be (and perhaps should be) applied to any
decision that is made. Essentially, whenever you make a decision, whether it is
a personal decision (making a purchase, deciding on dinner…) or a business or
professional decision, that decision can be considered sustainable if it
balances economic, social AND environmental needs. Unfortunately, many of our
recent governmental, industrial, and personal decisions are (and have been)
based almost exclusively on economic needs. Social needs, if considered at all,
seem to be focused on the needs of only a few members of society, and
environmental needs often don’t seem to be considered at all.
I was asked, as a board member of FLOW, to address how
students can live sustainably by volunteering with grassroots and other types
of community organizations. Explaining that sustainability is about more
than one thing I provided a top 10 list of things students (and everyone)
can do to live more sustainability. Here is the Top 10 List, with minimal
modification. These actions are intended to cost little or
nothing and some can actually save money. This list should not be considered all encompassing as there are many sustainable other actions or activities you can do that are not listed:
- Carbon Footprint Calculator from the Nature Conservancy
- Ecological Footprint Calculator from the Footprint Network
- Water Footprint Calculator from GRACE Communications
3. Connect with your community leaders and/or community organizations. One of the best ways to understand what your community is doing, or not doing, to work toward their sustainability goals is to get involved and ask. Remember, elected leaders are supposed to work for YOU!
4. Read the news and be an educated decision maker - Stay on top of current events: Local, State, National AND International by choosing “less” biased sources of news and using multiple sources. Finally, VOTE in every election (special, primary, AND general elections). I have included a figure I have used before as a guide for selecting what news to follow and what to avoid.
5. Seek healthy, fresh, and local sources for food in your community – Whether you are dining out or shopping for groceries, sustainable food choices are not hard to find. To live more sustainably, you should consider eating “lower on the food chain” and with minimal processed foods. Livestock (especially cattle) requires vast amounts of water, produce approximately 1/3 of all greenhouse gases, and result in the clear-cutting of rain forests for the production of animal feed.
6. Be a smart consumer – Find alternatives to avoid single use products and anything “disposable.” Smart consumers also purchase products that are designed to last, since similar amounts of water, electricity, and labor are required to produce cheaper items that will wear out sooner and need to be replaced. Shopping in consignment or thrift stores can also be a sustainable option.
7. Learn to navigate your community without a car – Although this can be a challenge in some communities, consider using local bus services, a bicycle, or walking when possible. When you do drive, try to take care of several errands in a single trip to save gasoline.
8. Save water where you can – This should go without saying, and I have certainly addressed this many times before. Simple changes, such as taking shorter showers, not leaving the water running while shaving, brushing your teeth, or working in the kitchen, waiting for full loads before using clothes and dish washers, and adopting smart lawn and garden watering practices can save hundreds or even thousands of gallons of water per year.
9. Save energy every day. The simple graphic can show you a few ways to save electricity, most of which will save you money on your electric bill.
10. Volunteer! – Join a local organization, such as FLOW, that focuses on sustaining our natural resources. Activities such as combating invasive species, restoring wetlands, picking up litter in our parks and along our water ways, and planting native trees, rain gardens, and pollinator gardens are vital for sustaining our natural habitat.
Actually, at this point I must confess that I lied earlier. Sustainability
is actually about one thing. It is about that one thing that you do in
your life to make your own life more sustainable. Make just one change in your life and
stick with it. Once you focus on it long enough it will become a personal habit
that you will do without thinking. Once that happens, make just one change in
your life and…
-
Food for Thought
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