Greta Thunberg said it, Bill Nye said it, your elementary school Social Studies classes said it:
The climate is changing for the worse and our planet is dying.
This fact of life has coloured the upbringing and education of our younger generations, who are fully cognizant of the fact that the worst effects of climate change will be theirs to deal with. In fact, many developing countries and communities least responsible for Green House Gas (GHG) emissions are already being ravaged by lethal environmental consequences. The subsequent development of youth into social advocates, avid researchers and *doers of no harm* (for the most part) is the most natural progression one could imagine!
The week’s webinar was hosted by Nevadha, one such passionate individual and a high school student going into her sophomore year. She hopes to be a math teacher and to educate people on environmental issues. Having done lots of research on the sustainability front, from the basics of individual impact to the nifty gadgets we can acquire to help us not further harm the planet, she gave us a comprehensive introduction to sustainable living and lowering carbon footprints.
Points covered were:
- The definition of sustainable living
-Your carbon footprint and why it's important
- Contributors to climate change
- Changes you can apply to your current lifestyle to be more sustainable
Sustainable Living- What it is
Another common term that many may find almost synonymous to sustainable living, is zero-waste living. The two are, however, varying in their degrees of intensity when it comes to sustainability.
Zero Waste is defined as:
“The conservation of all resources by means of responsible production, consumption, reuse, and recovery of products, packaging, and materials without burning and with no discharges to land, water, or air that threaten the environment or human health.”
Zero-waste is, just as its name entails, completely waste-free. But as Nevadha pointed out, it isn’t an attainable lifestyle for everyone. Sustainable and mindful living on the other hand, making informed choices to the best of one’s abilities, is within everyone’s capacity. That’s the beauty of sustainable living and Nevadha’s webinar in general. Subjectively, the strongest point she got across was that:
“It’s important to focus on what you CAN do to help our planet instead of what you aren’t ready to change yet.”
Everyone’s contributions will be and should be different, the size of the contribution, at its core, isn't what’s most important in the matter. What’s important is the adopting of an optimistic and active/proactive mindset.
Instead of being pessimistic and thinking about how the world will end anyways and that metal straws or shorter showers make no difference in the grand scheme of things, it’s paramount to remember: If everyone feels it’s their responsibility to monitor their carbon and ecological footprints (every capable person in the world), the accumulation of all these positive acts will lead to monumental positive change!
Your carbon footprint and why it's important
The terms carbon footprint and ecological footprint were just mentioned. Here’s what they mean.
Contributors to Climate Change
While having an optimistic outlook on one's individual actions along with a sense of self-accountability is imperative to the creation of mass positive change, it's important to know who the true biggest emitters of GHG are.
Here are some main contributors:
Transportation
Energy
Electricity & heating
Manufacturing of goods/Commercial
Residential
Ag(ricultural)-Crops
Ag-Livestock
Ag-Fuels
Forestry
Another big world-wide contributor is plastic. It takes many resources to produce and hundreds of years to decompose, which is more than enough time for humans to pile it up into seas of garbage. A main focus in individual sustainability is reducing on plastic use, like plastic coffee shop straws, water bottles and grocery bags.
What you can do
As was touched upon before, there is a crisis happening and there are things to be done. But again:
“It’s important to focus on what you CAN do to help our planet instead of what you aren’t ready to change yet.”
You may still be skeptical, can one person really make a difference, especially if we aren't taking drastic life-changing actions?
So, now we're motivated, convinced and ready! Here are some changes Nevadha recommends, in varying degrees of intensity, that anyone can choose to implement based on their circumstances.
Easier Implementations:
When shopping, look for items with less plastic packaging
Avoid food waste
Turn off lights, taps, appliances and air conditioning when not in use
Use a reusable water bottle, avoid plastic water bottles
Bring and use reusable bags when shopping
Save and reuse empty glass jars
Use cloth napkins and towels instead of paper ones
Take shorter showers
Reuse disposables (like plastic utensils) instead of tossing them
The Next Level:
Walk and bike more often, use public transportation or try carpooling
Research what items go where in waste disposal (what can or can't be recycled)
Shop at the farmers market or bulk stores
Try growing your own fruits, vegetables and flowers
Borrow things or buy second-hand instead of buying new*
However, be mindful of thrifting culture and overtaking affordable second-hand stores like Value Village or Goodwill (buying too much or buying all the good stuff); many people depend on these establishments for livelihood essentials and creature comforts when they are unable to shop anywhere else. If you have the financial capacity to buy new from established, trusted eco-friendly brands, do so! Also consider if your unwanted items can be given a new home instead of being thrown away.
Start composting
Support local businesses and green businesses**
As mentioned in point #5. Look over our resource section to find examples of such brands.
Rethink your potential purchases, how detrimental is the good or service you're considering to the environment?
Look into what kind of gas your car (or your family’s car) uses
Eat less meat and dairy***
On this point, I, the editor, respectfully disagree with Nevadha ;) If interested in my reasoning, head to the Editor's Note section below!
Products that promote a sustainable lifestyle:
In conclusion, Nevadha reminds us that helping the environment doesn't have to be inconvenient or difficult, and the tips and strategies she mentioned are only the beginning! There are so many more ways we can show up for our planet, all that is asked of us is to be a bit more mindful in our actions.
As this is such a rich topic that deserves to be thoughtfully researched (as our host has done), you the reader are urged, asked and welcome to share any and all useful resources on the topic you can find in the comments section below!
Resources!
Nevadha's Links:
Intro to Sustainable Living - Webinar slides presentation
Carbon footprint calculator: https://climatehero.typeform.com/to/RE3q6h?source=climateherome
Ecological footprint calculator: https://www.footprintcalculator.org
Pinterest board: https://pin.it/itCzkWs
Additional Links
Ecosia:
https://www.ecosia.org/ - A web browser that plants trees with profits made from searches with an ethical privacy policy.
https://blog.ecosia.org/ - Ecosia Blog
IG: @ecosia
Sacred Cow:
https://www.sacredcow.info/ - All info concerning the case for better meat, infographics, book, movie, action points, blog, recipes, podcasts...
IG Diana Rodges: @sustainabledish
IG Robb Wolf: @dasrobbwolf
https://www.sacredcow.info/helpful-resources - Infographics
Sustainable Brands:
- Good on You: https://directory.goodonyou.eco/ - A tool that rates brands on a 1-5 scale based on how they treat the planet, people and animals. Also includes price ranges.
- Patagonia: https://www.patagonia.ca/home/
- People Tree: https://www.peopletree.co.uk/
- Not Amazon Canada: https://www.not-amazon.co/ - Sustainable brand alternatives to Amazon.
Food:
- NIKU Farms (for Ontario): https://linktr.ee/nikufarms - an online farmer's market sourcing grass-fed, pasture raised, Non-GMO meats as well as fish and pantry items.
Editor's Note
For many years now, there's been a wide-spread narrative of meat and animal products being extremely detrimental to the environment, through the significant methane emissions of their production, their excessive energy consumption, and their hogging of land. One might remember Leonardo DiCaprio's very successful documentary Before the Flood that backed this stance.
However, in the effort to learn more about agricultural practices and the food industry, I came across a recently published book called: Sacred Cow, The Case for (Better) Meat by Diana Rodgers and Robb Wolf. The objective statements it made (meticulously backed by research) shocked me, they were the opposite of everything I believed before! Apparently, "It's not the cow, it's how."
In short, (though the scientific explanations are anything but) this book makes a strong case for how:
Cattle raising benefits the environment: Cows add to the diversity/complexity of eco-systems through their grazing, pooping and stomping on pastures. They are also natural vehicles of carbon sequestration and upcycle foods in low nutritional value such as grass, and turn it into nutrient-dense meat.
This process of upcycling of nutrients dovetails into the inquiry and findings on the nutritional value of beef: It's incredibly nutritious. More so than any other animal or non-animal product.
No diet (not even vegan or vegetarian ones) is actually "blood free": There is life and death in everything, animal casualties like that of rabbits, mice and insects in the row-crops that grow vegetables "that don't feel pain" amongst other examples. All we can do as consumers is choose the path of least harm.
At the moment, this book has convinced me of it's statements (while further and future research may of course change my perspective)! I believe that we should consume more meat and animal products and that this would be healthy for us and the planet.
But of course, I'm not mentioning all this to force my opinion down throats or shun/judge individual dietary choices, on the contrary! No matter your stance on the consumption of meat and animal products, Sacred Cow would be a great read for furthering your understanding of food production and our deep ties to nature.
So, if this rundown intrigued you, I urge you to flit through the Sacred Cow infographics down below and peruse the Sacred Cow heading of the Resources section above!
I'd also like to note that this book: may not be suitable for those who have eating disorders, are just starting to recover from one, or are simply uncomfortable with discussions surrounding the consumption of animals/death. It does have disclaimers about how their dietary advice should not be heeded by the demographic I've mentioned (there's talk of calorie counting and dietary deprivations). But, I fear the TWs weren't frequent, early or comprehensive enough for me to comfortably recommend this book to absolutely everyone!