One of my first lessons in sustainability was learnt from a cartoon that was shown in a famous children’s television series. As I remember, a short cartoon showed a little boy brushing his teeth while leaving the tap open. The water that flowed from his tap was from a tank that had a single fish living in it. The longer he left the tap open, the less water the fish had for its survival. Before the boy could finish brushing his teeth, the tank had run out of water and the fish had no water for its survival. The boy realised that the tank had run out of water only when the water stopped flowing from his tap. The cartoon is obviously an over-simplification of the problem, but it does give a pretty good idea as to why we all need to live a sustainable life.
I think that sustainability is a lifestyle choice. In the consumer driven world that we live in, making a conscious choice to buy only products that are manufactured sustainably is an important part of living a sustainable lifestyle. A sustainable product should be one that does no harmful effect that cannot be reversed, to either the environment or people who are involved in its production. This is what I think should be aim of a sustainably led life, to not do any irreversible damage to the environment or society as much as possible.
Another important aspect of a sustainable lifestyle is limiting our usage of products to just what we really need. Like the cartoon I mentioned above, we can all close a tap when we don’t need it. Regardless of whether or not we can financially afford to keep that tap on when we don’t need it, making a conscious effort to close the tap might stop any other negative impacts that we might not even be aware of until it’s too late. Another common example that I can think of is what we choose to carry our groceries home from the shop in. Regardless of what material is used by your local store to package items, if everyone just makes an effort to re-use bags or any other packaging we could save so much of the world’s resources without much effort.
Another very crucial aspect of living a sustainable life is educating others around us. Even if they are aware of the choices that can be made for a sustainable life, the power of spoken words and encouragement shouldn’t be under-estimated. Even between those of us who already try to live a sustainable life, sharing our experiences can give us the opportunity to help each other and learn together. After all, actively showing that we care for planet Earth and everything that lives on it is the foundation of sustainability.