Sustainability. A big word these days, and it's used incredibly often by many people for diverse reasons and arguments. Now we won't go into all the detail of sustainablity and what it should be, but we want to write about our personal views on sustainability and more importantly how we like to implement our views in daily life.
Pretty much everybody agrees that sustainability is a good thing right? Being eco-friendly and clean to the environment, reducing waste and the consumption of natural resources like fossil fuels seems like a good idea that most people can agree on. But the 'how to' is the problem. We are all used to our own lifestyles and making changes is not only difficult but sometimes it even seems hopeless. After all, you are just one person, so how are you going to change the world? This may sound cheesy, but it's true that we all have to start somewhere and so making a difference however small is vital. And we passionately believe that living sustainably is not a contest and you shouldn't feel guilty about what you waste, but feel good about the little things and what you save.
So let's talk about what sustainability means to us. We want to live in a clean environment with a reasonably low impact on nature, which means that we have to cut down on pollution and waste. Secondly, living sustainably for us also means trying to reduce our use of fossil fuels and other valuable resources. After all, we like the comfortable life we live and we know that for a long while fossil fuels will be necessary in our world, and not just for energy. Sustainability for us is by far not about reaching some impossible ideal of natural living. And we don't claim to have all the answers to the world's problems and how politicians should react to global warming and the rise in petrol prices. No, we just want to write about our interests in the subject and about how we like to live eco-friendly at home and how we live our lives that make a difference to us. And it's a discussion that is never-ending. In a way you could almost regard it as a hobby, something that changes over time and that you get better at over the years. It's not about being perfect right from the start or trying to hard so you get demotivated. It's about just trying, making that initial thought and changing your habits according to your lifestyle and you will soon see that living sustainably becomes your new routine!
What subject could be better to start talking about sustainability than food? In a way these two topics tie together so well and often the one leads into the other, especially in contemporary dialogue on food politics. And no surprise that we will talk about food on our blog as it mostly concerns food! So how does food impact our environment and our strain on resources? Well the food industry is a huge industry and that in itself says that it has a big impact on our world. Let's first talk about how the sourcing of your food impacts the environment.
Depending on how your food was produced and where it is from it can cause a lot of pollution and use up a lot of natural resources. The average supermarket product travels over a 1000 miles and is also polluting through its production, like agricultural practices, production processes and packaging and branding. So when it comes to sourcing your food, it seems that a supermarket might seem like the worst option?
Well not necessarily. After all, most supermarkets have a wide range of food products and you can choose between local, organic, fairtrade, seasonal etc. So by making the right choices when you buy at a supermarket is pretty good. Also, by buying the right things from a supermarket you influence the economics of world food production a lot. Supermarkets have a huge influence in global food production and that is not about change and it does not have to be a bad thing. Money makes the world go round, and spending money on the right things makes for positive and real change. Supermarkets are businesses and listen to what their customers buy - they can also influence us into wanting to buy their products - but at the end of the day it's our call. So we shouldn't really blame the supermarkets for something that we have collectively been pushing.
And what is true for supermarkets is also true for smaller food shops. Even though markets and small grocery stores give the impression of being completely local and eco-friendly, they're not necessarily. A green grocer is likely to source their peppers and tomatoes from the same or similar producers as supermarkets do, especially when not in season. An organic supplier may sell organic apples from halfway around the world. And how these small businesses deal with waste is not necessarily more transparent than the practices of the big guys.
The answer then is simple, but not really: shop around and make an informed choice. Learn about what you buy, where it's from and how it has been produced. This is not always that straighforward, and therefore not that simple. Supermarkets will display where products are from and looking for organic and fairtrade products are often a good guide for reasonable production practices. You can even call the supermarkets to inquire about their products if you're really serious.
With small-scale producers and providers it's often easy to talk about products and where things are from and how they are grown. Indeed many people in the business expect people to ask and talk about the provenance of their products, and are often quite passionate about it!
Now that you've started thinking about making an informed choice about what you buy and where you buy your food, you should also think about how you're going to use your food at home. Food will always stay a precious resource and we should treat it as such. Not only is this attitude better for the environment, it's also better for our health and our pockets! By not wasting your food and making the most of everything you are really saving money, and you are making expensive foods like organic, fairtrade and free range affordable. Obviously there are many ways not to waste food. Don't buy too much; cook what you're going to eat; use leftovers creatively; store food properly so it doesn't spoil; and even use so-called waste from food like bones and vegetable peelings to make a stock for example. And if you really need to throw away food then don't throw it into your normal bin. Everything that is compostable should be composted, and if you're lucky like we are in Belfast, you can even put your cooked food and animal products into a food bin of the city council. And don't forget about the packaging! Most of it can be recycled so there's hardly any waste at all! This all may seem like a lot of work and hassle, but it's really just become a routine for us now and doesn't take up much more time because we're used to it. But whatever you decide it should also suit your circumstances; we are lucky that our circumstances, and our determination, allow us to create hardly any food waste.
This has been but one of many ways on how to approach sustainability at home and in your day-to-day life. We think that food is a big part of sustainable living and a good starting point for changing habits and creating awareness. But food is obviously not the end. There are so many things to consider in a home, like general waste management, heating, electricity, the building itself, everyday practices etc. We will continue to write about these issues in our posts and we will give you an insight into how we manage these issues personally in order to give you tips and friendly advice on how you might want to live more sustainibly.
No comments:
Post a Comment