Sustainability
Sustainability for me is a table that’s perfectly fit in a house. So, if we want to be that sturdy wooden table in the home called Earth, we have to learn to respect what we take from nature. This is a lesson of life no one can actually give us, but we have to learn to make moral decisions based on our intention to sustain Earth. I have learned about sustainability when I was 7 years old. It was still during the communist days and the american uncle came over for a visit and explained to us the new discussions on polution and effects on ozone layer. It was way before we could understand what was coming over us. I guess when we were dreaming of Coca-Cola we had very little idea what was coming over in 20-30 years time. Nowadays everyone is talking about it. It’s nice to see so many enthusiasts. It’s even nicer the few times when you don’t read a sad propaganda between the lines. Make no mistake, there are as much money into pro as in against propaganda. So, the ones paying for fast consumption are equal to those paying for the sustainable propaganda. It’s only our minds that can make the difference between right and wrong.
For example I hate plastic and plastic bottles. I am a big fan of glass in all shapes, still my back cannot hold that big heavy bottle based on how much water I need to drink in one day. I have tried some bpa free plastic, but after a while the bootle ends up looking really used. So, finally, we went for a filtering solution to avoid all that plastic waste. At least at home the problem is solved. For the office we have a nice filtering system. It’s only when I am out on the run that I need a bottling solution. Currently I have this amazing Takeya glass bottle with silicone cover. It’s a pending patent bottle but I have it for years and it still pays off.
There are still products that need to become more planet friendly and here I can name diapers for example. To be honest I can’t wait for my son to get out of diapers, so we can also reduce that pollution we create. I cannot put him into textile diapers as the world has evolved greatly since I was just a little kid and I would hate to go back to that time when my mom would make efforts to clean diapers at high temperatures and stains and all those horror stories. And I don’t believe the bio ones are same resistance as the mass market ones. I have tried with my own monthly hygiene pads and they are very breathable and ok, but not highly resistant at all. I basically use more and pollute more. Think also about that when choosing highly marketed as eco friendly brands. Quality and research and development need to stay together for the greater purpose of meeting all the requirements: producer, customer and planet. Unfortunately most eco friendly products are only marketing and comforting thoughts. Their quality in terms of saving the planet leads to bigger use and therefore even more pollution. Remember that a bigger production is also pollution. It’s not just the fabric that counts. The outcome may be eco friendly, but sometimes making it may be high damage to the eco system or the planet. Sustainability means also reducing quantities used, reuse to the maximum the existing materials and also easy recycling of the materials.
And this brings me to the electric cars. At the moment they are very shy on the market. And also the brands don’t invest so much in selling them out. Why? Can you imagine storage of electricity to keep your vehicle going? It’s huge batteries. Batteries are heavily polluting our planet. If at the moment the price of the gas is going down as there is a massive over stock kept on barges on the sea, what would happen in case you are overproducing electricity? All that would go to waste. So, I am still waiting for a dream fuel that could pollute less our planet. In the mean time I walk as much as I can.
I was watching becoming Michelle Obama and I saw a calm scene where she was still signing books: each book had a post it on it. I guess sustainability I want to teach over to my son is that the power of word is more important than the making and foolishly using a piece of paper. I remember the person who taught me so much about reuse, reduce and recycle was an American teacher with some broken shoes. I always thought of her as she had great style compared to the communist society I was used to. But that pretty girl with almost no makeup and mostly black office clothes taught me how nature can give us a lot if we only take with measure from it. That girl who used shoes till they were broken was getting so moderate from nature and we were lucky if we learned something from that. I remember when I went shopping with her and she only bought 4 eggs and I was surprised as we used to get the big box of 30 eggs. Who was using all those eggs? I have never thrown out food as mom used to dosage and cook, but these days if I were to buy that much I would definitely throw out a lot. And I feel the nature is giving me a lot more if I don’t take all that’s being spread out in my path. So, without any campaign I simply feel the need to take less.
I have fast consumer clothes which are still in fashion or in my personal use even 5-10 years later. I have been lucky not to change my look that much during these years. Still, the most important thing is to buy less so you don’t get to throw out. Also, you should reuse stuff and then throw it out. I am trying to do this with all my stuff, but sometimes it becomes difficult as we only live in an apartment and I can’t really crowd my house that much. For example I saw a documentary once that mushrooms coming in plastic wrapping are meant for new spores to be put into action. I have never tried it. Also I have never made compost, but I would love to do so. It’s important that we reduce the clutter getting into our garbage dumps so we breathe better air. It’s important that we consume less energy: for the planet, for our eyes, for the fauna sake. It’s mandatory that we recycle all the stuff. It’s not yet that precise in our country, but we have to do as much as we can in order to avoid the massive effects of more people we are.
In the end I guess it’s a personal choice and we have to learn what means sustainably living. There are many voices speaking out this word, but the essence of solutions or way of life is far from the meaning of it. It takes some attention to make the difference between truth and myth about sustainability.
