How Sustainability isn't as Scary as it Seems

The planet seems to be in a state of panic; the Australian Bushfires, air pollution causing around nine million premature deaths per year can seem overwhelming. A runaway train that we can’t get back. Efforts to get people to engage in a more sustainable lifestyle is shrouded in fear, often scaring us into avoidance.

Yes, there are detrimental risks if this is not rectified, especially on such a limited time scale, but the problem is not too huge that individual actions cannot make a difference. If everyone implemented small changes into their daily routines, our great-great-great grandchildren will still be able to watch the honeybees dart around their garden every summer. Creating a pollinator habitat by planting lavender or bluebells is a great way to encourage Bees. Putting food-scraps into a compost heap (even if you don’t have a garden) will contribute to replacing the layer of topsoil on our planet (which is decreasing at a rate of 50% every 150 years).

Engaging in a sustainable, low-waste lifestyle carries with it the common misconception that its expensive and far more effort than necessary. Cycling to work when the car is so warm, avoiding single-use plastics and cutting down meat consumption all seem rather laborious. Yet logistically, they are perhaps easier than one might think. Walking isn’t for all of us, so if you are lucky enough to be a student, Next Bikes are free for the first half hour of use and available in cities all across Wales. If not, their tariffs start at £1 for an entire day, far cheaper than filling the car with petrol!

Perhaps the most surprising of all, is the fact that you can save money by avoiding a supermarket. Shopping locally, is sometimes seen as being an exclusive luxury to those who can live budget-free. Yet, from Barry to Merthyr, ‘Zero-Waste’ shops are popping up all over the country, and are far cheaper than we have been lead to believe.

To see if there was really any convivence in shopping zero waste, I decided to head to {Ripple} in Cardiff, empty handed, to see if it would live up to the hype. Living in a two-person household, I normally budget for £50 a week for my groceries. Armed with my cash, I was offered several clean jars and containers to fill up with whatever I needed. From pasta to bread to frozen peas and veggie burgers, I was amazed at the choice. I grabbed pasta, seeds, rice, vinegar, oats and enough frozen fruit and veg to keep me going and headed to the till. Ready to fork out an arm and a leg, I was shocked when my receipt came to under £15 for everything. Have I missed something? I more than halved my spending, and completely cut out the single-use plastics that all too often wind up in the ocean or a land-fill site.

When I got home, I purged my cupboards and fridge of all single use plastic. Shoving crisp packets and wrappers into bottles to create ‘Eco-Bricks’. The scheme, which is a stroke of genius, recycles all our old bottles crammed with plastic into bricks for protective housing in third world countries, or in new developments and personal projects back home. With a quick google search, I found hundreds of local collection sites to drop them off.

Ultimately, all these little changes took minimal effort and had a multitude of rewards. It was not threatening, or scary to engage with the damage our planet is facing at all. The impetus for making changes comes with contentedness. Settle down with what you already possess, stop chasing the minute-long pleasure of something new. Living sustainably is purely about being kind, both to yourself and the world around you, and like all kindness, cherish it and it will be repaid to you ten-fold.