Introduction
The sustainable development of businesses is important to ensure the continued well-being of the planet. However, the cornerstone of any sustainable policy is individual sustainability. Without an understanding of the benefits of this lifestyle, a person cannot properly enact change. Therefore, it is important to educate the individual on how to make their households more sustainable. It is the hope of this project to inform individual consumers of the impact they can make on their lives and why they should choose to be sustainable. This, ideally, will have the effect of exciting people to pursue sustainability, leading to innovation and greater change. Furthermore, instilling sustainability in the consumer audience significantly influences businesses through alterations of preference. For example, in the food sector, educating customers about sustainability can increase the chances of a business introducing changes aimed at improving sustainability without regard to customer preferences. Thus, different grocery store chains have already implemented sustainability by introducing composting systems and improving packaging. At the same time, consumers continue to choose food options that negatively influence the environment, such as sugar, chocolate, and palm oil. Focusing on personal sustainable development can help clients improve their business sustainability and communicate sustainability efforts to consumers.
Defining Sustainable Development and its Three Key Pillars
First, it is important to understand what sustainability and sustainable development are. The commonly-used definition comes from the UN World Commission on Environment and Development (TWI, n.d.). Their broad-scope definition of sustainable development is “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (TWI, n.d., para. 1). In general, there are three prominent areas of sustainability, which include environmental, social, and economic sustainability.
Economic sustainability revolves minimizing production risks and their environmental impact. This is most typically seen with large companies that have to recycle their products and use renewable materials in their productions in order to decrease the damage they do to the environment (Greenly, n.d.). However, the practices of reusing, reducing, and recycling can be applied to any household and even to an individual’s product consumption.
The area of social sustainability focuses on promoting and upholding values of fairness, respect, and inclusivity. In order to decrease the need for non-sustainable development, this pillar seeks to combat discrimination, support equality, promote solidarity among people, and improve the work environment (Greenly, n.d.). There are many facets of the social pillar, ranging from fighting for global social rights to advocating for transparency in the workplace. The environmental pillar of sustainable development talks about reducing the negative impact on one’s habitat. This can be done by preserving non-renewable resources, reducing one’s carbon footprint, and – like the economic sustainability – reusing resources to avoid wasting them (Greenly, n.d.). Doing so helps keep the environment in the state it is now.
Large change begins with a small effort of an individual person or group. Personal sustainability – that is, sustainability practices of individual people – takes up half of the entire cosmos of sustainability (Parodi & Tamm, 2019). It is an important part of pushing towards global sustainability. With each individual that pursues sustainability and begins to understand why it is so important, the pressure on policy-makers and companies grows.
Examples of Sustainable Behavior
There already exist whole communities that built themselves on the concept of sustainable development. These can serve as an example of behaviors that everyone can adopt in order to become more sustainable. An example of a place like that is Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage. Located in Missouri, United States, the Ecovillage is situated on 280 acres (Horton, 2020). This community lives by six guidelines that are considered by them to be vital to the sustainable lifestyle they want to lead. Cars are not allowed, and so is the use of fossil fuels. Instead, the village only uses renewable energy sources, such as solar power. All gardening and farming performed within the village are organic. Composting is used to dispose of all organic waste and other recycle. Following these rules allows the village to reduce their collective carbon footprint and preserve their environment.
Considering the businesses which promote sustainability, Apple and Ikea revised their supply chain for more sustainable options. For example, Apple switched to green energy resources by using solar power, while Ikea uses recycled plastic found in the ocean to produce some goods (Gibbons, 2019). The notion shows the audience that maintaining personal sustainability is easy even if the attempt focuses on carefully selecting products for personal use. In the food industry, revising the supply chain can lead to the discovery of non-standard ways to reduce the environmental footprint of a business. For example, an ice cream company, Salt & Straw, cooperates with local food producers and creates ice cream from food waste, such as oranges, grapefruits, baguettes, and popcorn, resulting in unique flavors (Persons, 2022). The company also encourages customers to mix the leftover ice cream to create new flavor combinations.
Plan for Personal Improvement
The inhabitants of Dancing Rabbit EcoVillage show the world that individual people can make a difference and live sustainably. Doing so would not only be beneficial to the environment and the world at large, but also to the individual as well. The following list of ten concepts has been selected as the easiest and most beneficial of the available sustainability practices (Thomson, n.d.). These can be done by virtually any person, with benefit to themselves and to the environment.
- Saving energy.
- Reusing and recycling.
- Planning your groceries in advance.
- Reducing water usage.
- Walking and bicycling instead of driving.
- Donating old clothing.
- Composting food waste.
- Switching to electronics over paper.
- Buying locally grown products.
- Using fans instead of air conditioning.
Exploration of Benefits of Sustainability
Saving Energy
Renewable energy alternatives are costly and, in some places, space-prohibitive. It is much easier, however, to decrease one’s energy use by turning off the lights in the rooms that are not occupied. Other methods of saving energy include using light-efficient bulbs instead of regular ones and unplugging electronics when they are not needed. This would, firstly, reduce the environmental impact of household activities by decreasing the carbon emissions into the atmosphere. Carbon emissions cause the environment to warm, which contributes to climate change. It would also have social benefits by decreasing the overall demand within a nation. This would allow for more sustainable nationwide practices and re-allocation of the unused energy for other causes. Finally, it would have a direct economic benefit of reducing the energy bill of the household.
Planning Grocery Purchases
Having a full refrigerator in case of emergencies is important, but most goods have expiration dates. Much of the food bought by people today is thrown into landfills, where it slowly decomposes, resulting in increased level of greenhouse emissions in the atmosphere. This is among the factors causing global warming. By planning grocery purchases ahead and eating what they buy, an individual can greatly reduce their impact on their greenhouse gas emission by decreasing their food waste. This also helps by creating a surplus of groceries in the stores, which can then be sold at lower prices to the less economically stable members of the community or donated. Finally, as before, it benefits the individual economically by decreasing their grocery bills.
Walking and Bicycling Instead of Driving
Car emissions are another large contributor to the large amount of greenhouse gases being emitted into the environment. In cities, where cars are everywhere, this is especially evident. Choosing to walk and bicycle everywhere – or taking public transportation – is beneficial not only to the body’s health, but also emits less harmful gases. With more people using public transportation or other means of non-car transit, the government would be forced to invest more money into these systems instead of relying on people to drive themselves. This would promote more sustainable development on a larger scale. Finally, it would decrease the traffic, smog, and other negative effects of large amounts of cars being used, which would promote a healthier environment for everyone living in the area.
Conclusion
In conclusion, individual sustainability is an important step in reducing the effect that civilization has had on the environment. Enacting small changes to one’s life can help preserve the world as it is now for future generations. These actions can be as simple as choosing to cycle to work instead of driving. Personal sustainability has a positive impact not only on the environment, but also on the individual’s health and wellness.
References
Gibbons, S. (2019). 3 ways to make sustainability a part of your business. Forbes.
Greenly. (n.d.). Everything you need to know about the three pillars of sustainable development.
Horton, J. (2020). How sustainable communities work. HowStuffWorks Science.
Parodi, O., & Tamm, K. (2019). Personal sustainability: Exploring the far side of sustainable development. Routledge.
Persons, B. (2022). The untold truth of Salt & Straw. Mashed.
Thomson, T. (n.d.). 14 ways to live more sustainably. Wessex Water. Web.
TWI. (n.d.). What is sustainability and why is it so important?