Sustainable living 101

Writer: Milvanyo Gill'ard

Today, we hear about the worsening of the greenhouse effect and the depletion of resources. Ever since the advent of the industrial revolution around 1750, scholars have been speaking out about the dangers of industrialisation on people and the environment. Sustainability has become an indispensable component that characterises our current society. Sustainability is about the balance between people, environment and prosperity. The idea is to combine these in a harmonious way and give each of them equal attention, so as to prevent one from bearing the brunt of the other.

There are more and more ways and alternatives that help to act more sustainably as individuals. Despite the fact that the best solutions can be found with the biggest polluters, everyone can still have a positive impact on the environment through their actions. So here are some more handy tips for living more sustainably:

• Insulate walls and floors well and double-glaze your windows.
• At home, check whether cracks are properly sealed, e.g. with draught strips.
• Look into installing solar panels or a solar water heater.
• Keep track of your energy consumption and use energy-efficient appliances (+ green electricity).
• Do not use air conditioning/heating unnecessarily.
• Remove chargers from the ignition, should you not use them.
• Replace incandescent and energy-saving bulbs with LED bulbs.
• Print as little as possible and always double-sided.
• Only turn on the washing machine when it is full and prefer to hang the laundry to dry instead of using the dryer.
• Try not to use more water than necessary, even when cooking.
• Use and buy as few plastic bags as possible.
• Donate to charities that support the weak in our society.
• Buy Fairtrade products.
• Bike or prefer to travel by public transport.
• Not to forget... Reuse your bottled water & separate your waste.

Finding the right balance between people, environment and prosperity is constantly fluctuating and is possibly one of the biggest global challenges we face. Not only is sustainability important for being able to provide for yourself, but also for the sake of our descendants. Everyone has a right to a clean, healthy environment in which livelihoods are central. So sustainability is not just a hype, but a lifestyle!