The earth is a beautiful place, and our natural resources are true gifts we often fail to appreciate. If you enjoy the outdoors, the change of the seasons, the unique differences between climates, and the wonders of nature, you are not alone. Yet, when asked if you are an “environmentalist”, what would your answer be? Many of us would say “no”, that we are not environmentalists. Maybe it’s because we think environmentalism sounds too severe. Or maybe it’s because society, media, or some other force has made concern for the environment sound like a radical cause. In fact, I can think of few things that should be less debated than the fact that we should all care about the environment.
Whether you consider yourself an “environmentalist” or not, this blog is an opportunity for us, as a community to raise and discuss ideas about minimizing our impact on the environment. The choices we make every day affect our environment. How much we drive, whether we recycle, whether we waste electricity powering an air conditioner while we are on vacation, washing a half load of clothes at a time, buying water in disposable bottles instead of using a reusable bottle — all these choices sound small in isolation, but they have big effect cumulatively.
The truth is, the impact of many things we do that contribute to wasted resources, unneeded pollution, and increased wear and tear on our environment could be significantly reduced if we just took a moment to think about our choices. If we approach our choices with a focus on “conservation” rather than “consumption”, our eyes will open to the impact we all have on the environment. That is what sustainable thinking is all about.
This blog is here because if I’m thinking about the environment, and what choices we can make to reduce the impact we have on it, I know many others have the same thoughts. Although I will offer my ideas here, I only bring one perspective to the discussion. The more readers and contributors that can be added to this discussion, the more common and familiar the topic of “sustainable thinking” will be, and the more our environment will benefit.
To get the discussion rolling, let’s begin with a simple topic that brings home the concept of sustainable thinking. Do you, your family, or your coworkers drink bottled water at home or on the go? Most people don’t immediately think that has significant environmental impact. However, the recycling rate for those plastic bottles in America is as low as 14%, meaning the other 86% go to landfills. Those bottles can then take as many as 1000 years to biodegrade. In the meantime, the amount of bottled water consumed globally each year was as high as 154 Billion liters. (data according to Arnold, Emily and Janet Larson “Bottled Water: Pouring Resources Down the Drain”, Earth Policy Institute)
A simple change, such as switching form bottled water to reusable bottles filled with tap water or filtered water can have dramatic affects not only on reducing the amount of plastic waste that makes its way to landfills, but to reduce the fossil fuels wasted in the production of the plastic bottles, the water bottling process, and distribution (think semis, boats, planes). All great changes can start with small steps.
In this Sustainable Thinking blog, I encourage all of us to take up a challenge. Let’s all try to make a difference, and let’s all commit to a new way of thinking. Instead of the old attitude of “it’s not my problem” when it comes to the environment, let’s make it our problem. Let’s all commit to Sustainable Thinking — let’s do our part to consider what simple changes we could make for a positive impact. Please feel free to add to this discussion, and to advance the dialogue we should all be having about sustainable energy, sustainable resources, and sustainable thinking. Visit SustainableThinking.org for more info.
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