Today is World Environment Day, an initiative to raise environmental awareness. Regular readers know that reducing my personal impact, and sharing my tips and learnings, are priorities for me. With that in mind, there’s no better theme for this week’s Simple Living Sunday post than sustainability. Our lives, and the lives of future generations, depend on it.
In the universe, there are billions of galaxies. In our galaxy are billions of planets. But there is Only One Earth. #OnlyOneEarth
WorldEnvironmentDay.global
Three simple pleasures and highlights
Before we continue our discussion on sustainability, here are three simple pleasures and highlights of the last week.
- On Sunday, we had my three best friends from high school over for a barbecue. It’s always fun when we get together. True friendship really stands the test of time.
- Queen Elizabeth II celebrates her platinum jubilee this weekend. We watched the Trooping the Colour celebration. She really is a remarkable woman.
- My decluttering challenge posts are getting a lot of traffic from Pinterest this week. It was nice to see my blog views on the rise again.
This week’s simple living focus: Sustainability
One of my main philosophies in life is that we need to leave things better than we found them. It’s a simple idea really, but a concept that humankind has sadly lost sight of. Sustainability is about just that—using resources responsibly, so they can support both present and future generations.
About World Environment Day
It’s interesting that World Environment Day has been around for almost 50 years. For half a century, people have been aware of the impact of human activity on our planet. Yet, for half a century, things have continued to deteriorate as humans extract and destroy the Earth’s resources at an alarming rate, with little regard for future generations.
The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) reports we’re using the equivalent of 1.6 Earths to maintain our way of life. This clearly cannot continue.
We all share responsibility
It’s easy to throw responsibility back to governments and large corporations. While I can’t argue that change needs to happen at that level, remember that individual consumers buy the products manufactured by those large corporations. If you support companies that recklessly pollute the environment, or destroy natural ecosystems in the name of profit, you are part of the problem.
If we pollute the air, water and soil that keep us alive and well, and destroy the biodiversity that allows natural systems to function, no amount of money will save us.
David Suzuki
What will it take for us to wake up? Air pollution is responsible for one in every nine deaths. At an increasingly alarming rate, lives are lost and homes destroyed by extreme weather events like floods and wildfires. Millions of tons of plastic waste enter our oceans every year with dire health consequences for all of us. We cannot continue on this path, yet people continue to resist change in the name of progress.
This is now our planet, run by humankind for humankind. There is little left for the rest of the living world.
Sir David Attenborough
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Three things to do this week
It’s easy to bury your head in the sand and leave it to someone else to clean up your mess. The fact is, we are all responsible for the state of our planet. So, it’s up to each of us to do what we can to turn things around.
Here are three simple things you can do this week.
Learn about your own impact
Think about your lifestyle. Are you living sustainably? What changes can you make today? The ClimateHero Carbon Calculator is an excellent way to assess your impact, and identify areas for improvement. Take 5 minutes to compete the quiz.
When I recently completed the ClimateHero quiz, I learned that our household generates around 7.6 tons of CO2e every year. That puts us well below the western world average of 10 tons, but there’s obviously still room for improvement. The quiz confirmed we’re doing great in terms of our daily habits and consumption. Opportunities for improvement are mainly big-ticket items like changes to our home and replacing vehicles. It’s good to have long-term goals!
Commit to some new habits
Armed with your learnings from the ClimateHero calculator, commit to making some changes and adopting some new habits. Remember, it’s about progress not perfection. Every small step helps.
If you’re looking for ideas, here are some posts you might find helpful:
- 31 ways you can join the Plastic Free July movement
- 10 ways you can use less water
- 12 practical ways you can cut food waste
- Giving up meat won’t save the Earth…but it might help
- 20 home energy saving tips
Spread the word
Share what you’ve learned with others. Let people know about the changes you’re making and how you’re reducing your impact. Check out this post for positive ways to encourage others go to green.
This World Environment Day, let’s all commit to sustainability and leaving the Earth in better shape than we found it. After all, there is Only One Earth!
What changes have you made to live more sustainably? Tell me your ideas below.
It is way too easy to blame the government etc. for the damage, and obviously they are responsible for a large amount but everyone has an impact, therefore they also can reduce. I recently had a lecture on air quality which really shocked & scared me about how awful it is. The rise in respirtory health conditions, air pollution as a cause of death and how so many countries are getting away with it is so frightening. I always think about the effect of greenhouse gases, but not so much air pollution but it is something I am trying to consider more often now!
I agree Caroline. Air pollution is a big problem. Last year, our area was affected by smoke from the forest fires in western Canada. It’s hard to believe smoke travels thousands of kilometres, but it makes you realize how the world and the environment are all connected no matter where we live. On one of the worst days, I went outside and could hardly breathe. Is that how we want to live?
That’s so heartbreaking
I did the quiz and scored 5.2; still, a long way to go. It’s nearly impossible to avoid products that contain palm oil!
5.2. That’s great! I was a bit confused when I did the quiz if I was doing it for just me or for our household so I am not sure how accurate my 7.5 was.
It is hard to avoid palm oil. It’s in so many things.
Over the last few years I have definitely made big efforts to be as sustainable as I can. It is so important. If everyone around the world did small things it would make a huge difference. Thank you for sharing this post.
Lauren – bournemouthgirl.com
That’s great to hear Lauren. You’re right! Every small change makes a difference. Thanks for dropping by and commenting.
Top post, Michelle. It is hard to understand why society still runs the way it does. There is no Planet B and nature is not infinite. But also, really glad to hear you had a barbecue with friends – hope it was super!
Thank you! Yes, I think it’s easier for many people to deny reality than change their habits. I’m not sure what it will take.
Thank you, Michaelle, for your patient, non-judgemental, compassionate, informative, inspirational blog posts. As i may have written in a previous comment, we joined with a friend who lives 7 blocks a way to split a weekly farmshare from an organic farm that drops off in our neighborhood. So now, instead of buying whatever vegetable i want at our local grocery stores, I will learn each Thursday what vegetables we get to eat this week (grown somewhat locally and very seasonally). If/when/as larger systems change or fall apart due to our human-created climate catastrophe, we will probably need more and more local agriculture… My other step to (maybe) help raise awareness about the terrifying environmental challenges we need to face (but mostly remain in denial about…) is that I have finally submitted my “We’re Running A Big Experiment” song for digital distribution. If all goes as planned, it will be available on Pandora, YouTube, Apple Music, Spotify, etc. starting this Friday… Deep breath in. Deep breath out. Onward! And hurrah for your recent increase in Pinterest traffic/activity!
Thanks Will! I think that’s a fantastic way to buy vegetables. Please let me know when your song is available. I would love to spread the word!
AOK! I will happily let you know… Thanks for this offer!
Hi, again, Michelle. I left a link to my song in a comment following another one of your blog posts. But since this is the comment thread where I first mentioned it, here is a link for anyone who might be curious to listen to “We’re Running A Big Experiment” — https://songwhip.com/willmcmillan/were-running-a-big-experiment. THANK YOU for all you do to educate us and raise our awareness about these vitally important issues!
Thanks Will. I did get the link and I am planning to share it with my readers in a blog post on Friday.
Yowza! I will remain excitedly patient until then…
These are excellent ways individuals can start helping. Each one of us is responsible for our own part of the equation and there’s so much we can do. I particularly like using recycled materials in art projects.
Reusing and upcycling are great ideas. Any time you can save something from the landfill, it’s a win!