Sustainable solution #7:
Spread the Power of Sustainable Living
Aside from incorporating sustainable practices into your life, encourage others to do the same for the well-being of future generations!
Why do you incorporate sustainable practices into your life?:
I like to think of myself as part of the solution instead of part of the problem. The reality is that our lifestyles in the United States are inevitably ecologically destructive. But we can reduce that impact significantly just by being mindful of how our actions impact the environment. We need larger structural changes in society and in the world, but in the meantime, we should do what we can as individuals to reduce our destructive impact on the earth.
–Sociology Chair Brian Obach
I incorporate these practices in my life as much as possible because I’m conscious of my effects as one person. Many people don’t recycle or take part in similar practices because of the notion, “I won’t make a difference, I’m just one person”.
However, what if everyone did it, that would make a difference. I doesn’t take much to recycle, reuse, buy less, etc. It’s about not being lazy, being conscious and aware.
-SA Executive Vice President Eve Stern
Do you think it is important for others to pursue a sustainable lifestyle? How come?
Of course. As humans, it’s our responsibility to be responsible for the effects we have on our environment. Our environment is not nearly appreciated enough. Only until our planet hits rock bottom, and we are not able to survive, will people really realize they can make a difference and they do.
-SA Executive Vice President Eve Stern
So many of us believe that we cannot do anything to foster social change. But in fact, one of the most profound and potentially accessible things to do as an agent of change is to try to live sustainably: buy local food, shop in local stores, use public transportation, walk or bike for errands under one to two miles. If we all did these things it would have a tremendous impact on the earth. It’s been calculated that in the U.S., 40 percent of all trips are two miles or less and for 90 percent of these trips people use their cars. If just 1 million people (out of over 300 million that live in the US) replaced a two mile car trip once a week with a bike ride, CO2 emissions could be reduced by 50,000 tons per year.
-Sociology Professor Peter Kaufman