Most people have heard the term “sustainability”, but have you ever considered the true impact of your actions, or how you could help promote the movement? Sustainability is relatable to all aspects of our life, from the modes of transportation and types of energy sources we use to the amount of clothes and food we buy. Unfortunately, we often overlook or fail to acknowledge the impact of our actions.
Sustainability is the concept of being able to meet our current needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. It focuses on not depleting Earth’s limited supply of resources, instead developing innovative solutions to find new efficient and environmentally-friendly ways to progress our society. The term sustainability is closely related to the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which aim to achieve a sustainable future for all people by ending poverty, ensuring equal access to education, and eliminating inequality worldwide (among several other objectives).
Several factors affect sustainability, including climate change and invasive species, as well as humans and our concurrent carbon footprint. Climate change negatively impacts sustainability because it causes wildfires, an increasing amount of tropical storms, aggravation of soil erosion, ecosystem degradation, the extinction of many species, and rising sea levels, all of which significantly impact both human socioeconomic life and our development. Furthermore, invasive species (organisms that cause ecological or economic harm in an environment where it is not native) affect biodiversity because they often outcompete the local species. This can lead to the extinction of local species and, ultimately, negatively affect both biodiversity and sustainability.
Humans negatively influence our own sustainability goals in a number of ways: overpopulation, the overuse of fossil fuels, pollution of the environment by throwing garbage in the ocean or other ecosystems, creating sewage runoff, and overpopulation (again, among several other things). Currently, the International Union for Conservation of Nature pessimistically states that at our current rate of polluting the Earth and negatively contributing to climate change, around 10,967 endangered species have an increased likelihood of extinction. This number will increase if we do not make radical changes to lower global warming.
Despite it seeming as if we only have a harmful effect on the environment, we have also contributed to achieving a more green world. By recognizing our mistakes and creating innovative methods and technology, we have been able to make progress towards achieving a more sustainable society. These actions include: protecting endangered species, cleaning and taking care of our oceans and other ecosystems, greatly increasing and achieving our goal for reforestation plans, creating government environmental regulations, and advocating for sustainable practices.
Do not let this fool you. Despite our progress, there is still a long way to go before we adapt to a fully sustainable society. Naturally, as a high school student, you don’t yet have the power to create government regulations or set up protected ecosystem areas in order to promote sustainability, but what can you do right now to help?
- Conserve your energy use. Unplug or turn off devices and appliances when they are not in use; this includes electronic devices and air conditioning.
- Cut back on water usage. Take shorter baths and do not leave the water running.
- Recycle. Not only is it important to recycle, but also to reuse what you can; this includes donating items that you may not need/use instead of throwing them out.
- Reduce unnecessary waste. Only use or buy what you need, don’t waste resources.
- Use less plastic. Plastic takes around 450 years to decompose and billions of pounds of single-use plastic end up in the ocean, which in turn negatively impacts the sealife. Additionally, many animals, including fish, often eat plastic, and when we then eat them, our bodies are negatively affected by the harmful microplastics that we have ingested. These microplastics are toxic, and in extreme cases, can cause cancer.
- Use less polluting modes of transportation. Driving burns fossil fuels, which contributes to global warming; thus, it is more sustainable to carpool, bike, walk, use an electric scooter/bike, or take public transportation. Consider using these more sustainable modes of transportation to get to school, or other areas you often travel to.
- Advocate for sustainable practices or volunteer with environmental organizations. Every voice matters! Advocating for sustainable government initiatives/programs is an important factor in making a change in our society.
- Buy sustainable products. Buying local products is a great way to minimize your carbon footprint and support your local community at the same time.
- Don’t support fast fashion. This industry does not recycle materials, and leads to harmful microplastics that end up in oceans, and eventually, back into our bodies. Consider alternate methods, such as thrifting.
- Encourage friends or other people you know to make more sustainable decisions.
Why should you care about sustainability? Well, it can improve health, increase safety, and save money. Also, sustainability promotes a better, healthier society and would protect various species from extinction. Can you imagine a world without many species such as polar bears or monarch butterflies? Due to climate change, these animals (as well as others) could be at risk of extinction if global temperatures continue to rise. The extinction of these species would disrupt their ecosystems. If we do not make an effort to change our actions, this could be our future: more animals would go extinct due to deforestation and pollution and in addition, there would be an increased number of overflowing landfills and respiratory diseases due to increasing pollution and CO2 emissions. Does this sound like the future you want to have?
There are many short-term and long-term benefits to supporting sustainability and making more informed, sustainable decisions. At the current rate that we are consuming Earth’s resources, we won’t have enough resources to support future generations unless we start making more sustainable choices. As teenagers, it is important to help out in any possible way, no matter how small it may seem. We only have one Earth, and it is important to take care of it!
Bibliography:
Krosofsky, Andrew. “What Are the Six Factors of Sustainability?” Green Matters, 12 March 2021, https://www.greenmatters.com/p/six-factors-of-sustainability. Accessed 24 April 2022.
Reddy, Isha. “7 Ways In Which Youth Can Protect The Environment.” Voices of Youth, 31 October 2020, https://www.voicesofyouth.org/blog/7-ways-which-youth-can-protect-environment. Accessed 24 April 2022.
“Species and Climate Change | IUCN.” International Union for Conservation of Nature – IUCN, https://www.iucn.org/resources/issues-briefs/species-and-climate-change. Accessed 24 April 2022.
“What You Can Do to Promote Sustainability? | Sustainability | The University of Scranton.” University of Scranton, https://www.scranton.edu/sustainability/what-can-you-do.shtml. Accessed 24 April 2022.