Sustainable who?

The idea to start this blog came from conversations I’ve been having with friends and family. Most of these conversations followed a similar trend:

“How messed up is the world?!” “Pretty messed up. Our government is doing nothing! We’re doing nothing about climate change and people are already feeling the effects of it!” “It’s so frustrating, I feel hopeless, it’s hopeless, let’s just watch Broad City.”
Very few of these conversations about sustainability, the environment and the future were positive. They all had an over-arching sense of doom and gloom. And let’s face it, we are pretty screwed, and we’ve messed up big time. Probably not us personally, but we’re people and we all have brains and we’ve let it happen. We’ve demanded things, companies have produced them, and torn down half the Amazon to make them and now we’re in this position. Pretty f*ked.

But here’s where I want us to stop, and I want to think. How do we un-do, or at least try and change the situation we’re in? How can I, as one solitary human being change my lifestyle to be more sustainable, and to try and influence others to do the same?

I would say I’m pretty sustainable and environmentally conscious. I would say my family and my friends feel the same way. We care about the environment and we’re not going to go out and destroy it just cos we can. I’m a self-proclaimed greenie but not the devoted type who tie themselves to trees and live in the forest for years on end (that would be the dream!). I care about the world around me, and want to make sure it’s still here and kicking when my kids have kids and their kids have kids.

I recycle everything I can, I buy from the op-shop when I can, I ride my bike everywhere, I attend climate change rallies, I turn off lights and I turn the tap off when I’m brushing my teeth (who really still does that?). That would make me pretty sustainable, right?

Probably not.

That's where this blog comes in. 
If you choose to accept, you are going to follow my journey as I try and make my life, and its style a little more sustainable, both environmentally and ethically. That doesn’t mean that I’m going to pack my bags, sell everything I own and live in the bush for the rest of my life. It means I’m going to try and participate fully as a member of society, still going about my daily business but do it in consciously sustainable way. And I mean truly sustainable. None of this half-ass biz of “but I used my keep-cup yesterday, I can use a non-recyclable styrofoam cup today, it’ll be ok. What’s one more to landfill anyway..?” No thank-you.
I’m going to try and be sustainable in what I eat, what I wear, what I do and where my money goes. So many of us out there want to do the right thing for the world but just don’t know how. We want to make the world a greener, fairer and a more prosperous place but we don’t know where to start. 
I don’t know where to start and I certainly don't know all the answers but I’m going to find out. There’s gotta be an app, or two for it and I’m going to find it. 

We can try though..