Frequently touted as environmentally friendly options that help preserve the planet, cotton tote bags require so much energy and freshwater to produce that you must use one at least 7,000 times to make it an effective alternative to plastic bags. Finding out that purchases, habits, and initiatives you thought were good for the planet, such as using tote bags, are in fact not likely to help our current climate crisis can be disheartening. Recognizing how the sustainability movement is rife with performative acts, corporate greenwashing and good intentions thwarted by misinformation threatens to discourage people from the entire concept.
You should push back against this sustainability burnout, however. By approaching sustainability not as an all-or-nothing, extreme concept, but rather a mindset supported by a clear philosophy, firm knowledge, and realistic practices, you can confidently identify and proceed with behaviors that can help save the planet.
Before considering how one can act sustainability, one must articulate why it's important. At its most basic level, for humans to continue as a species, our Earth must have clean water, soil, and air. But even before conditions that would eradicate the entire human race develop, pollution, rising sea levels, chaotic storms, and a myriad of other human-caused scenarios will significantly endanger people’s health, safety, and quality of life. It’s already happening. This is in addition to the impacts on flora and fauna that face extinction through no actions of their own. The science is settled on the cause of these issues and the only question one must ask oneself is if humanity is worth survival.
Admitting we want to save the planet is easy, but identifying what must be done is more difficult. There is no magic bullet that will solve the many compounding issues, and even if there were, we need as much time as possible to discover it. Reducing just one aspect of climate change will require the ideas and actions of many people working together. Large corporations will need to change how they operate, including transitioning from fossil fuels and adopting new technologies such as sand batteries. But we cannot rely on ginormous businesses and governments alone to make all the changes. Individuals must act in small ways that add up when done collectively. For example, scientists can research ways to more efficiently grow and store crops, but households must still work to reduce food waste via simple decisions such as not throwing away uneaten items and purchasing local, seasonal produce.
Most industries, such as coffee (left) require massive amounts of heat, which can benefit from employing a sand battery, such as those produced by Alternō (right).
At this individual level of acting sustainability, every decision is an opportunity. Recognizing that a good action is not the enemy of a perfect action allows one to compare the impact of all options and take sustainability into account alongside other factors such as ease and cost. For example, it’s not realistic to never travel in a motorized vehicle even if that were the best way to limit your personal carbon emissions. Still, you can often opt for public transportation or an electric vehicle as opposed to a private, internal-combustion car. Thankfully, such decisions are becoming easier with innovators across sectors providing everything from electric vehicle chargers to bodhi leaf tea bags.
Electric vehicle chargers are becoming increasingly common across the world, including in Vietnam.
Part of adopting a balanced, rational approach to sustainability involves admitting you will make choices based on other criteria. Price and convenience realistically influence our actions. But even if sustainability is not the primary determinant of any choice, it can still play a part. For example, we often eat what is tastiest, but knowing a dish is sustainably produced may motivate us to order it as opposed to an equally delicious one that isn’t. Similarly, solar panels may be better for the environment than connecting one’s home to the power grid, but the fact that they reduce monthly electricity bills may prove to be the necessary motivator for homes and factories to install them.
Solar panels can help the financial bottom line for industrial and residential buildings, including countryside homes such as those pictured here.
Education is crucial for taking actions that make a tangible difference. You must have a strong foundational knowledge about what choices are available and the facts behind them. Media literacy and staying informed via trustworthy publications, websites, and speakers, as opposed to TikTok influencers and corporate marketing doublespeak is essential. Research and vetting companies and activities can take time, but it's worth it when the health of the planet is involved.
Representatives from Vietnamese companies focused on sustainability explaining their visions during the Powering a Sustainable Future event.
Educating oneself about sustainability is difficult to do alone and it's therefore important to seek out events, organizations, and institutions that can help bridge knowledge gaps. In Vietnam, the Empowering Sustainability Unitour, for example, is a university-based series of events that connects students with experts and innovators via panel discussions, mini-exhibitions, and career opportunities ranging from alternative energy solutions and green transportation to sustainable entrepreneurship, emphasizing practical applications and innovation. The event is particularly helpful for young adults entering full adult independence who must decide where to work and how to live. With this great range of decisions comes opportunities and responsibilities to act with a sustainability mindset which the Unitour can help develop.
Thinking about our planet’s demise and its impact on humanity can be terrifying. Because sustainability has been so thoroughly co-opted by the agents of consumerism, the concept offers little solace. However, if you can consider a sustainability mindset from a holistic perspective, taking into account its philosophical and practical elements alongside a willingness to act boldly in the world, you can do your part.
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