Sustainability in 2019 and Beyond: My Personal Journey
2019 has been the year where we all seem to have become progressively switched-on to environmental problems, particularly in the wake of the Blue Planet II plastic effect and Greta Thunberg’s rise in notability.
It can all be a bit overwhelming sometimes and there has been an growing rise in cases of “eco-anxiety” - a phenomenon I’m not ashamed to admit I suffer from myself. While we are living on the brink of both climate and ecological breakdown, we are also living in a digital age where an incredible array of information is available at our fingertips. Of course, this has pros and cons, but it has also stimulated a global conversation on where our responsibilities lie as global citizens to at least reduce the impact of climate change and the sixth mass extinction on our beloved natural world.
With more and more people doing their bit to help out Mother Nature, solutions are becoming increasingly accessible. The catch-22 of striving for a sustainable existence whilst being metaphorically chained to the consumerist culture and linear economy in which we live – particularly in the Western world – is often seen as being hypocritical.
But in my mind at least, I would rather be on the side of history that tried to do something to prevent the demise of Earth’s greatest asset. Aside from intensifying my participation in campaigns for conservation success and environmental change at a national and international level, over the past year I have also focused more critically on aspects of my personal life where small environmental wins can take place daily.
1. Eating Consciously
I love food, but I also love our planet. Industrialised agriculture, particularly for the production of beef, is responsible for monumental amounts of greenhouse gas emissions, the deforestation of huge swathes of precious forests and the pollution of fragile ecosystems, mainly through agricultural runoff. For the past few years I have battled with the idea of wanting to eat no animal products, but on first attempts I have frequently fallen victim to the smell of a bacon sandwich pretty damn quickly.
However, there have been successes. Since completing my masters degree and coming back from South Africa I’ve stopped eating seafood. My main motivation for stopping my consumption of seafood is because of the commercial overfishing of our seas and the contribution the fishing industry makes to plastic pollution and the entanglement of marine animals. For me, I had to find an emotional connection to the issue and I delved deeper into the science rather than brushing it aside.
Fisheries science is multi-faceted and highly complex, with many communities depending on our oceans to provide them with not only an income, but also their own food resource. Sustainable seafood is available – check out the Marine Stewardship Council eco-label – and in the future I probably will eat seafood again, but I will always make sure it is sustainably sourced with a minimal impact on our environment. If I’m not sure, I won’t eat it.
I’m taking it month-by-month as I continue to cut animal products out of my diet. After a successful month of no seafood, my next challenge is to discontinue my consumption of beef from November onward.
2. Carbon Offsetting
I have travelled by airplane more in the past 12 months than I have in my entire life combined. Although it’s not a perfect solution, I have started to invest in carbon offsetting initiatives whenever I take a flight. Make It Wild are a wonderfully ethical company based in Yorkshire and they have recently started their own carbon offsetting project through a tree planting scheme.
Traveling forms a vital component of my career and conservation work, but not only that, it has also helped me to grow and become a better global citizen by exploring far-flung places and meeting people with very different origins to mine.
For the remainder of my traveling arrangements I rely on a mixture of walking and public transport. I try to only fly when it’s fundamental rather than as an unnecessary luxury, and in 2020 I will make a concerted effort to explore places closer to home for my personal travels.
3. Reducing Plastics
We cannot escape plastic in our modern lives, but we can invest in reusable solutions to devoid ourselves of those pesky single-use plastics. An estimated 8 million tonnes of plastic enters our oceans every year, and if that wasn’t bad enough by 2050 it is estimated that there will be more plastic in our ocean than fish.
So what can we do about it?! I never leave home without my reusable water bottle and I always remember to take shopping bags with me whenever I go to the supermarket – even if you forget, it’s easy to refuse single-use and opt to carry items in your handbag if they’re small.
Additional plastics which are easy to rid from your life include wet wipes (which contribute to those ghastly fatbergs infecting our waterways), plastic coffee lids and stirrers (do you really need them?!), and plastic toothbrushes.
The further you delve into how you can detach from planet plastic, the more innovative ways you can uncover. My Plastic Free Life by Beth Terry is an informative blog with inventive solutions to take your plastic-free lifestyle to the next level. Lucy Siegle’s Turning The Tide On Plastic is a revolutionary book and one which greatly opened my eyes this year to the scale of our plastic problem and how it’s infiltrated every aspect of our lives – I highly recommend it, no matter what stage you’re at on your plastic-free journey.
4. Reusing My Wardrobe
The fashion industry is one of the largest contributors to carbon emissions globally. The Ellen McArthur Foundation has created a fantastically informative webpage on how the fashion industry can adopt a circular economy model, with an emphasis on us as consumers changing the way we think about our clothes. These are products which consume incredible volumes of finite resources to be made – did you know it takes 7,600 litres of water to make one pair of jeans?!
It wasn’t until the beginning of the year when I typically have my annual wardrobe clear-out that I realised I’d been chucking away perfectly wearable clothes in exchange for the latest fashions, which would inevitably see the same fate. I’m learning to love my old dresses and jackets that I haven’t worn for years, and when I do make new clothing purchases I make sure they’re an investment and classic pieces – now I go for durability over marketability.
Over the next twelve months I’m hoping to learn more about the intricacies of the fashion industry’s environmental (and social) impact on our planet and how I can play my part whilst still indulging in my love for design.
The Future
In this interconnected online world we all now live in, it’s very easy to get distracted by what we’re not doing instead of focusing on what we are doing. I think it’s important to not criticise individuals for what they’re not doing for our environment, but to applaud them for what they are doing. After all, something is always better than nothing.
Education is key for improving sustainability in our everyday lives, and sustainability itself should not be a competition. Instead of tearing each other down, we should be raising each other up and recognising that we are all heading towards the same common goal of creating a better future for our planet and the species we’re fortunate enough to share it with.
It is hard to not fall victim to eco-anxiety and become bogged down by the environmental crises facing our global community, but there are many conservation successes to be celebrated and it’s important to bear those in mind when it feels like you’re fighting a losing battle.
Although we may be on different parts of the road, our destination is the same.
Thank you Yellow Zebra Safaris for inspiring this post. Yellow Zebra Safaris an ethical and conservation conscious safari tour operator who have invested in multiple charity projects, including the adoption of elephants at The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, supporting children’s education in Malawi through the One To One Campaign, and backing the Dog Detection Unit in Tanzania with the PAMS Foundation. Check out the Kenya section of their website for more information on their conscious safari tours.