What does Sustainability mean to you?

Sustainability is a word that is thrown around a lot, especially in the last few years as the climate crisis becomes more serious, but lots of us don’t actually know what it really means or what’s really going on.

The definition of sustainability in relation to the environment is “avoidance of the depletion of natural resources in order to maintain an ecological balance”.

Most of us have heard about being more sustainable and might have even made a few changes but lots of people are just ignoring the issue as it is not affecting their everyday lives.

Focusing in on the fashion industry which produces 10% of all humanity’s carbon emissions and is the second largest consumer of the world’s water supply. By 2050 it could be responsible for a quarter of the earth’s carbon budget and looking at the UK specifically in 2018 300,00 tonnes of textiles were sent to be burned or dumped into landfill. Fast fashion is defined as inexpensive clothing produced rapidly by mass-market retailers in response to the latest trends and it is killing the planet. Now lots of us know this, you might have seen the Stacey Dooley documentary or a friend mentioned the major impact fast fashion causes, yet many people are still shopping regularly at fast fashion brands as if there is no negative impact.

The same goes for the meat and dairy industry as according to the United Nations, a global shift towards a vegan diet is necessary to combat the worst effects of climate change. Animal agriculture is responsible for more greenhouse gases than all the world’s transportation systems combined. Lots of us are at least eating less meat and dairy but many people still don't seem to care about the impact they are having on the planet. Being sustainable has also become a trend which has its benefits as it has brought sustainability to the attention of many more people but this also means the meaning can get lost and without meaning it is easy to drop it as it is more of a fad than a lifestyle change. Included in this is also the issue of greenwashing which is where brands create a false impression about being sustainable such as fast food chains switching to paper straws which seem more sustainable but are actually often non-recyclable but gave the impression of being more ‘green’. In the marketing world being presented as sustainable is often more important than actually being sustainable.

It’s not about being perfect but educate yourself on what is going on, there are lots of Instagram accounts for easy information and then do what you can, it’s important we all take part.