Everybody knows that there is a massive environmental crisis going on. We also know that pollution and the extreme weather patterns caused by climate change are extremely disastrous to our health, to our infrastructure and even to our continued existence as a species. Moving towards sustainable lifestyles and sustainable cities is the only way to preserve our way of life and the earth itself.
It has to start with individual changes throughout the industrialized world. Changes in how we live, how we view the world. It begins with acknowledging that we as individuals do have the power to change the world and taking daily steps to do so.
What is a Sustainable Lifestyle?
A sustainable lifestyle looks different for everyone. While it might be cool if we all built our own tiny eco-friendly homes, that simply isn’t the reality for most of us. And if you start out trying to go completely waste free next week, there’s a good chance you’ll crash and burn and end up making no long term change at all.
Start with the small things. Use environmentally friendly cleaning and beauty products. Cut back on your waste. Incorporate local food in your diet. Eat less meat–or no meat. Get some house plants. Buy a reusable water bottle so you don’t end up buying plastic. Print your editing copies double sided. Only use paper for notes you plan to keep for a long time.
There are dozens of small ways you can reduce your impact on the environment. The key is to understand your options and choose the ones that feel right to you. You don’t have to go completely nuts about the environment to make a difference. Even better, a lot of the ways you can make your lifestyle more sustainable will also help you save money and become healthier.
Going the Extra Mile
By this I’m not going back to off grid housing. I’m talking about what you can do as a writer to make a difference. I’m talking about educating people, spreading the word about small solutions that will help us avoid big disaster. I’m talking about putting pressure on big companies and politicians.
We are facing a major environmental crisis. If we don’t take steps to avert it now life as we know it will be changed forever.
There is no better time to start than right now–except maybe a few years ago. It is time to accept your power and use it to help us move towards a sustainable future.
What About Me?
For my part, I’m writing these blog posts, signing petitions. I’m also focusing my marketing efforts on working with sustainable companies and renewable energy companies in the hopes that I can educate people and help them make decisions that will lead us to a brighter future. I want to reach out to as many people as I can, show them how to create change and even help them do it.
I’ll admit, I’m doing this partially out of selfishness. I don’t really want the world to be a desolate wasteland when I’m 85. I also want there to be people around who can read my books in a hundred years, because part of writing books is about becoming immortal. We may write because we couldn’t live without writing, without our stories, but there is also the appeal of someday being taught in an English classroom or read by scholars in three hundred years. If we don’t build a sustainable future, there won’t be anybody around in three hundred years to read my work or yours.
So how are you going to help us create that sustainable future? Leave your answers in the comments below.
This neatly explained how all aspects of life are connected and affected. Practicing alternative health, especially via diet, made it easier for me to see how to create a sustainable lifestyle. It was simply resourcefulness in action. Thanks for writing this, Dianna.
Hey Deirdre,
Thanks! This is an incredibly important topic to me. A fair number of sustainable choices I’ve been have been more about life enjoyment–such as working from home and eating less fast food–but I’m also always looking for small ways to reduce my impact on the environment. My next step is to seriously reduce the amount of pop I drink. I have a bad habit of drinking it the way some writers drink coffee.
Thanks for stopping by,
~Dianna