Sustainability

Unravelling the Thread
Cloaked in thread expertly spun by the robotic movements of calloused hands, I window shop the latest fashion trends through my browser. Obsessing over the articles of clothing and an uncontrollable need for instant gratification has created an environment for fast fashion to thrive… at the cost of the environment.
By Kishan Baskaran5 years ago in Earth
Smaller Footprint, Bigger Wave
At first thought, leaving less of a carbon footprint may seem like too tall of an order for anyone to tackle. Before taking that step though, I think it is important to note that we know something must be done to protect our oceans and atmosphere from the carbon emissions that we are producing.
By Michael Owczarek5 years ago in Earth
Growing the resistance
It’s such a mess, isn’t it? The topic of how we as individuals can slow the climate catastrophe train is so fraught and depressing, because even as we take radical action – having no more than one child, eliminating meat from our diets, buying hybrid or all-electric cars, thinking hard about all the places we dream of going and which very few feel essential enough to justify the noxious emissions of greenhouse gases high into the atmosphere – even as we reexamine everything about how we live, the fiercely-defended ignorance of others slows the sea change that must occur at all levels to stop this runaway train. But here’s the thing: while we do our little part to advocate for those systemic changes, we have to do what we can in our own lives. What else are we going to do? Reduce life to some logical gamesmanship where we take no action until everyone does? How can those of us who understand the impacts of everything we do convince ourselves that our individual acts are too small to matter?
By Gina King5 years ago in Earth
The Repurpose Driven Life
The reason this meme is so funny is its accuracy. I remember opening my grandma's refrigerator to get out something she asked for and being overwhelmed by the butter containers and milk jugs that held everything but butter and milk. Due to my grandparents' age, they were used to keeping everything they thought they might use again. For my grandpa, it was screws, nails, nuts and bolts; stored in a coffee can.
By Yvonne Lovejoy5 years ago in Earth
Cleaning the Ego With the Fight Against Littering
It’s never been cooler to be focused on being clean, and those who create the wave are often less noticed than those who choose to run on it. While the planet spins at ridiculous speeds through an unforgiving cosmos, we are caught trying our best to stand still, take pause, and enjoy the moment. Unfortunately, in our efforts to do this, we forget about our spherical creator and the accumulation of trash the human race has dumped across Earth.
By Kishan Baskaran5 years ago in Earth
Bodies of Water
My first step toward making waves of transformation was a scary one. I listened to my heart pound every night like the rhythm of the waves crashing violently as I lay in bed anticipating my new life adventure and leaving behind my old life as a carpenter and a painter. I began to recognize through the years that this feeling was my aliveness coming to get me, like a swinging trapeze bar according to Danaan Parry in Warriors of the Heart. I had never been whitewater rafting before or been camping longer than a weekend. Now I was about to become a whitewater raft guide and live out of my tent for the summer. Little did I know that I was about to take a huge vote for mother earth and myself. To the average person, I may seem like a ski bum, a river bum or the crazy water lady telling everyone to "hydrate your brain". Little did I know that one day I would be rowing my own 18ft raft down the heart of the Grand Canyon and navigating class five rapids. I am beginning to see that this wave I am making is building into a massive title wave.
By Arieal Pearl Healy5 years ago in Earth
The role of the hospitality industry in food waste
The hotel industry is a subset of the hospitality industry that focuses on offering accommodation services to customers. In 2019, the global hotel and resort industry was valued at 1.21 trillion US dollars, down from 1.24 trillion US dollars the previous year. In 2021, the industry is expected to be worth $1.22 trillion.
By Andrew Anderson5 years ago in Earth
Reducing Our Carbon Footprint, One Bite at a Time
Last week on my near-daily commute home from work, between the same overplayed Top 10 pop songs, the two hosts took a moment to make a joke about a random and lighthearted news story. A ketchup packet shortage had swept the nation’s restaurants. They had their laughs and faded into the next sensationalized new release. As I parked in front of my apartment, I sat in the car and connected lots of dots.
By .5 years ago in Earth
The Living Planet
The above photograph of Earth – from outer space - is one of the numerous ones available. There is another one, decades old - Pale Blue Dot taken by Voyager-I spacecraft from outskirts of our solar system. Our planet is not even a speck of dust on the cosmic scale.
By Prasanna Patkar5 years ago in Earth
Recycling lives
A time came in my life when I felt a burning desire to start a family. I had grown tired of it all being about me. I felt ready to pass along the little that I knew to someone else. I was ready to see someone grow, change and blossom. I was longing for a house full of chaos, joy, and laughter. I was game for some good-old highschool drama.I wanted to get excited about Santa coming down the chimney once again. I wanted to see my parents melt as they watched their grand-kids learn to ride a bike.
By Silvia FIammenghi5 years ago in Earth
How To Help Save The Planet
Today, at long last, I took personal responsibility for doing my bit towards saving our beautiful blue and green planet. At a time when there are highly justified, continuing global concerns about the health and well being of planet earth, I do believe it is incumbent upon each and everyone of us as individuals to reduce our carbon footprint. Collectively, we can do an awful lot to reduce wasting valuable resources only to create evermore unnecessary, unjustifiable pollution and contamination all around the world, very much to all of our detriment. What did I do? I bought a new bike.
By Liam Ireland5 years ago in Earth
Every individual step counts for the creation of environmental change
What is the way to combat our environmental footprint? There are many levels of environmental consciousness. It might be like baby steps leading from one to another but might as well keep us still, positioned on minimal effort. Some of us take climate change very seriously, getting more motivated by new knowledge provided by sources such as news, documentaries or saddening social media posts. In contrast, others are motivated by governments guidelines and restrictions, social influence or monetary benefits. We have all seen how turtles stuck in beer can nets or stabbed by the plastic straws got widespread coverage and affected many emotionally to take action towards strawless movements. Still, many tend to forget that it's not only plastic straws and bags that harm nature and sealife. We need to take on so many other levels to secure the species' existence in the sea and land but not forget it's not just them but also us that will go extinct when nature around us is compromised. You might not see it at first, but our whole ecosystem is one big chain of reactions, where the death of any species directly or indirectly affects our quality of life. For example, we need bees to pollinate our plants and whales to have oxygen.
By Marie L5 years ago in Earth