Sustainable Sustainability: The Fourth R
When I was a kid (in the late 1980s – age give away here), mainstream culture welcomed its first popular environmental movement since the ‘‘flower power’’ days of the 1960s. Publicized industrial accidents (like the Exxon Valdez oil spill) and the detrimental effects of pollution caused a social awareness to take flight as to the importance of protecting the earth. Like many, this is when I learned about the three R’s of the environment: reduce, reuse, and recycle.
During this brief ‘‘environment-is-in’’ surge, it seemed to be cool to fight for the planet. Hollywood stars attended events and fundraisers in order to promote generic causes like ‘‘stop pollution’’ and ‘‘save the whales’’. Greenpeace’s battles against big business made headlines. There was even a cartoon show that I watched (religiously) which preached the importance of sustainability: Captain Planet – yes, probably the cheesiest superhero name ever.
Unfortunately, as the 1990s rolled around, this love affair with the environment fizzled out. What happened to the movement? As a generation, I assume that we got depressed, started listening to grunge music and then the internet dominated our lives until the turn of the millennium.
However, in this new century, and especially since Al Gore’s successful PowerPoint-presentation-turned-movie ‘‘An Inconvenient Truth’’ in 2006, sustainability has re-emerged as being an urgent and in vogue issue. Scientific pressure has turned into social mobilization. But what says that, this time around, the movement doesn’t lose momentum? After the 1960’s, 1980’s, and today’s version of environmentalism, is the world ready to make some real changes? Is this ‘‘third time a charm’’ for the cause?
I was at a sustainability roundtable meeting recently and we were discussing the issue: how will peoples’ attitude change and allow everyone to get on board the sustainable bandwagon? One participant (scientist or engineer – he sounded smart) at the table said that no matter how advanced the tools, it’s attitude that determines the probability of things being adopted. ‘‘Culture will trump technology, always’’, he said. Examples can be found everywhere. For instance, in the arguments given for not buying electric vehicles, we often hear excuses like: ‘‘what if I want to go on a long road trip?’’ or ‘‘what if I get stuck and can’t find a recharging station?’’. Frankly, these are cop outs. Once attitudes change, driving a gas consuming internal combustion engine might become out-of-date, unfashionable and downright barbaric. While better solar panels and more convenient electric vehicle charging stations will help sustainability get ingrained in our every day habits, the moment that widespread attitude shifts is what will go down in history as the real turning point.
So, how will this new environmental revolution stick and not be remembered as a mere fad? This is where the three R’s come back. However this time, there’s a new catalyst: the fourth R – rethink…
Rethink everything: commuting to work, lunch and dinner choices, buying coffee, choosing a vacation spot, and cleaning ones clothes. While it’s necessary to reduce, reuse, and recycle, rethinking the way we act and live every day is the key to lasting habit-changing eco-measures. In other words: ‘‘sustainable sustainability’’.
Source: http://greenstructures.co.uk
While it may be true that it’s big business that pollutes most, someone is buying and consuming big business’ unsustainable products. As powerful consumers, our everyday habits determine where we invest our spending dollars. Thus, we make the decisions that affect how businesses produce and distribute products. Yes, protesting in front of a dirty polluting factory might bring change. But what speaks even louder are sales figures. If a product isn’t moving on the shelves, it will be discontinued. Our every day habits are what drive the economic mechanism that has made us rely on polluting practices: driving to the store (instead of walking), eating something that was shipped from the other side of the globe (instead of local food), or buying easy to use disposable products.
Climate change won’t be solved uniquely with fossil fuel alternatives and carbon offsets – every little thing must change. At the same time, you don’t have to save the world on your own by eliminating all the conveniences of your everyday life in one drastic sweep. It will take time, but small adjustments will add up. So before you buy, use, consume, throw away, or waste your next item, rethink about your choice and consider the more ecological alternative. If not, Greenpeace, Al Gore, a random Hollywood star, or even Captain Planet might come looking for you…
It's all about attitude. Are climate change summits going to be about anything but talk? Will large oil and gas companies continue to govern our politics and policy? We as consumers and citizens have more power than we might think. We must put our money where our mouth is by supporting initiatives that matter: local produce, reduced packaging, wide-scale recycling, while advocating for bills that increase environmental regulations. Peter Segal's book The Necessary Revolution about sustainable economics is a great tool for igniting a mind shift from a straight line production model to a closed loop. The environment is humanity's environment...inaction only hurts ourselves. Good post!
Thanks for the read and comment! I absolutely agree: this is two-front battle. On one side, big business and government need to show a commitment to sustainability. And on the grassroots side, people need to change their habits and demand greener products/services. Thanks for commenting and hope you enjoy reading the Urban Times! Regards - Sav
I think this is such an important point you have brought up. Maybe it is time for Captain Planet to make a return (though in your case it seems he may have never left!). I am often disappointed in people's inability to see the importance of small actions and their lack of enthusiasm if a change made doesn't come with a whole lot of attention and applause. We have to focus on our own homes first. We, for example, live in an area where bins are not picked up and we have to deliver our garbage every month to the tip. It was a huge wakeup call to see mountains of waste and painful to make our addition. Now we are proud every time we see a kilo less as our load hits the scales. Reading articles like yours give me hope, thank you!
Hello Michele! Thanks for your comments. You are absolute right: every little bit counts and the first place to look is in the mirror. We can't blame business and organizations for not being green - if we don't practice what we preach. And the only way to be sustainable in a long term way is to change all the little habits (like you did with your garbage). Stay sustainable and keep reading Urban Times! - Sav
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