The first "Everything Sustainable" blog by Brianna Kuhl. History, trends,events,innovations,issues, you name it.Sustainability is a hot topic. Kuhl it!
I wanted to get a post out this week, but because of finals and senior year nonsense, I have been unable to post anything awesome. However, I did remember this sweet documentary I watched in a consumer behavior class in Paris. Check it out, if you don't like what its talks about, it's got some amazing shots. Enjoy the whole movie on YouTube here:
Movie: Home
Summary: Internationally renowned photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand makes his feature directorial debut with this environmentally conscious documentary produced by Luc Besson, and narrated by Glenn Close. Shot in 54 countries and 120 locations over 217 days, Home presents the many wonders of planet Earth from an entirely aerial perspective. As such, we are afforded the unique opportunity to witness our changing environment from an entirely new vantage point. In our 200,000 years on Earth, humanity has hopelessly upset Mother Nature's delicate balance. Some experts claim that we have less than ten years to change our patterns of consumption and reverse the trend before the damage is irreversible. Produced to inspire action and encourage thoughtful debate, Home poses the prospect that unless we act quickly, we risk losing the only home we may ever have.
What will you do this year to help your planet earth? Today I hosted an Earth Day party and asked my coworkers to write down a few things they will be doing to go green this year. The list is as follows:
1.) Lights out
2.) Recycle
3.) Use more resuable cups
4.) Digital Presentation v. printed copies
5.) Use biodegradable doggie bags
6.) Not turning on more than one light at a time
7.) Buy less/stop buying bottles water
8.) Meatless mondays!
9.) Stop collecting plastic bags from the super market
10.) Fix leaky faucet
11.) Cut back on water ie shorter showers, shutting off faucet when brushing teeth/dishwashing
And THAT is why I love where I work. People, the point of this holiday is to raise awareness on all the little things we could be doing to help make our world a better place and save our resources. Every little thing you do will help our society become more sustainable. Most importantly, no matter what you do:
READ. LEARN. EDUCATE YOURSELF.
Seriously, it is the most important thing to do in order to stay aware on all those little things I mentioned...
Happy Earth Day everyone!
Post your Earth Day resolutions if you have any! Would love to hear them :-)
Fact One: I am a 21 year old from New Jersey and I regularly feel the need to buy food, because I enjoy not starving myself. Fact Two: Cheap prices, sales,cool packaging, and popular brand names regularly determine my decision to buy products, planned or not.
I realize something undeniably obvious exists when I think about the above facts. There are millions of people, just like me, influenced by the exact same things. Creepy.
Not only is it creepy to imagine an army of Brianna's, but the fact that this army is easily persuaded to buy any product that catches their eye is creepy for the environment and public health, too. Attention to all who can relate: Cheap,shiny, and popular brand NEVER determine purchases when it comes to being a smart consumer, no matter what Walmart says!
Okay, this is turning into a scary post, I get it. But most people need to be a little alarmed in order to pay attention to problems. Grocery shopping is a necessity in the daily life of the average U.S. citizen. Unfortunately, you would be surprised to find out the kind of crap you've been wasting your money on. Check out the videos posted below for the documentaries Food Inc. and Kind Corn. Not the full videos, but you could definitely find them on Youtube. On your mark, get set, EDUCATE YOURSELF!!!!!!
Food Inc, Trailer
King Corn, Trailer
If your stomach feels like it was ripped from your body and then put back inside-out, I've just made my point.
If you only checked out the previews, please get on Youtube and check out the full videos, you will thank me afterwards, after you probably vomit or never eat again. Just remember, the next time you're in a rush at the store picking up almost anything made by a mass producer, you probably want to read the ingredients and/or NOT buy it. Oh, and here's a link to a cool site with tons of fun information on sugar. Enjoy! http://www.wellnesstaskforce.org/media/cms/mediafiles/toolkit-sugar.pdf
Have you given up on any new years resolutions since January? Do you feel a bit down on yourself for picking up another cigarette, watching TV more than you said you would, or eating the same crap you did last year? It's a true life situation, we all say we want to better ourselves for the year to come, but realize it may be easier said than done. Why not start with going green? Forget your empty promises about dieting and spending money. Becoming a more sustainable consumer will just about take care of it all! Here's a few easy things you can do in order to make yourself and the world better.
Partying
Believe it, the way you PARTY affects everything from your health to your carbon footprint! Before buying the booze for your next party, consider what the products are. Is it Budweiser from a large polluting factory in Newark, New Jersey, or is it from a local, energy and environmentally conscious brewery? Glass, can or plastic cups for the keg? Was the booze shipped all over creation to end up in your living room?? If your beer is brewed close to home and your town has a good recycling program, choose glass; if it comes from far away, stick with aluminum. A pulled pint of draught beer will always be the greenest choice. When in doubt, buy local, that generally takes care of it! And try to lose those Solo cups! If you are in desperate need of some single use cups, try Solo's "Bare" line of "Eco-friendly" cups. They are made from compostable,recycled, recyclable,and renewable materials. The line also include containers and dinner ware. Perfect for your next get together!
Eating I love to eat. I bet you and everyone else you know likes to eat as well. Let it also be known that although I am a Pescatarian ( I do eat fish, but not meat!) I do recognize that meat is a staple in most people's diets. That being said, I bet MOST of you don't realize that many meat products being sold around the world are in fact NOT environmentally friendly in more than one way. Here's a little clip to check out what I mean, before you think I'm pulling this crap out of no where:
Alright, I am NOT a PETA fanatic, I think that's important to know about me or anything I will ever write in this blog. However, I do recognize the good points and solid facts stated in this video and I think that all meat eaters should be made aware of modern meat production. Seriously guys, it's gross. My suggestion is, other than becoming a Vega/Pescatarian, to buy local, organic, grass fed meat! Its humane, better for you, and better for the environment! Also, pay attention to packaging and try to minimizing the amount or meat you and your family consume. Less is more,people!
Exercising This is NOT an area where less is more! More is more, and more done OUTSIDE is even better! For real, get off the tread mill and on to the sidewalk, park, or outdoor track. In the cold months, keeping off of electric powered machines helps out too. Remember the little things, guys!
Shopping Hmm.... yes... greener shopping is a WHOLE other topic that will require its own separate post, but I'll leave a few good points here for now:
The less packaging, the BETTER
Stay away from single use products as much as possible!
If you notice a business is not acting environmentally responsible, don't give them your business. Enough said.
Buy local, all natural, and organic as much as possible,but make sure brands can back up claims with certification and literature.
Shop less.
Cleaning Thanks to it being 2011, the average consumer now has a variety of cleaning products to choose from, when elbow grease and vinegar won't cut it. Here's a video to help you find eco-friendly cleaning products:
Thank you, Oregon Environmental Council!
Working Hey guys and girls, I totally understand being busy at work. That's probably why it's called work in the first place. Anyway, whether you work outside or inside, anyone can keep track and reduce the amount of resources wasted during shifts.
If you work in an office, try double-sided printing ( most office printers do it automatically, if you select the right print option setting). Turning off the lights in restrooms, offices, hallways, and turning off computers at night will all help reduce the energy consumed through the day. Reusable coffee mugs are always better than paper cups. Separating trash is an important and easy way to integrate sustainable practices on the job.
Personal garbage bins will NOT help sustainable practices, so try to avoid having them around. Larger recycling cans and smaller waste bins will also encourage more coworkers to recycle and separate instead of throwing everything away together. Also, encourage bottle cap collection and separation from plastic bottles, these parts are NOT recyclable and will cause more waste in the long run!
A good sustainability program on the job will help condition employees to act more responsibly. These actions will translate to practices at home and can be picked up by employees' families. Imagine the possibilities of starting a sustainability program at your job!
Thanks for checking out my new post! Leave comments and questions, I'm more than happy to answer them!
Dear Consumers,
Yes, I'm talking to all of you. We are all consumers making up a consumption society, whether or not you choose to identify as so ( this serves for another discussion at a later date!). Have you recently reused the same plastic water bottle that you bought to mix your vodka and orange juice before the club last night? Or, maybe you just bought a Prius. Or, maybe you started buying products with "green" packaging all over them.
Defined by Google: Greenwashing (green whitewash) is the practice of companies disingenuously spinning their products and policies as environmentally friendly, such as by presenting cost cuts as reductions in use of resources. It is a deceptive use of green PR or green marketing
Friends, you are also Greenwashing yourselves by saying or believing you are a smarter consumer when in fact you are only doing what you perceive others do. Not understanding the process and importance or looking for real ways to help the earth is the only place Greenwashing will get you.
But still, congrats for the effort, sort of...
The earth appreciates the little things we all do for it. However, it's not time to pat yourself on the back and call it a day! The consumer perception of 'changing small parts of my life and buying products that look green makes a difference' is a terrible misconception.
This mindset is exactly what will throw us into a period of more deceptive advertising practices because it's easy for big business to slap a "green" green label on a product and sell millions of it! Product purchases by consumers just because there's tree, a leaf or a recycling symbol is a rapidly growing byproduct of the situation. FYI people, you need to read labels, it's what they are there for!
Thankfully, the internet is here. Think of all that information, right at our fingertips. Amazing, right? So before you go and congratulate yourself on saving the world by using your disposable water bottle you purchased yesterday more than once, look into the product's company features and content. Research is made simple with Google, blogs, and social sites like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. If you ask questions, you will get answers. So get curious and start questioning the little things you do in life. We are all connected like never before, use it to your advantage! Find out what you're really buying and consuming.
Here are some videos that reinforce the point I am making and are great for show & tell!
1.) How to Identify Eco-Friendly Products:
2.) Greenwashing: False Claims on Recycling, Environmental Sustainability and Eco Friendly Products
The more I think about the real meaning of sustainability, the green movement, or smart design, the more I wonder how many people out there REALLY don't have a clue what any of it means. This presents a dangerous bottleneck in the process of raising awareness and changing the way the modern human being consumes resources. I have taken a definition from the most generic word reference website, dictionary.com, which has come to define the term "sustainable" in the English Dictionary as follows:
Sustainable (adj) : Capable of Being sustained; ( of economic development, energy sources, etc.) capable of being maintained at a steady level without exhausting natural resources or causing sever ecological damage.
There, now that we have THAT cleared up, I also want to include a definition I found on UCLA's sustainability site, seen as the following(reference located at bottom of post):
" A sustainable society is one that is environmentally viable, economically robust, and socially just and equitable one that meets the needs of the present without compromising the resources for future generations."
For those of you new to these terms, when I reference anything sustainable throughout this blog, these definitions are important to understand in order to fully comprehend my mission and purpose here. I am generating greater awareness on issues, news, innovations, and concepts that are shaping the future of a sustainable society, in order to maintain lifestyles at a steady level without exhausting natural resources or causing ecological damage. The best part is, I know that all of you are FULL of great ideas as well. I want to hear what you have to say, and so do many others. Let your voice and thoughts be heard. Tell some friends, but better yet, tell me! What is your personal definition of sustainability? Leave a Kuhl comment on this post or leave me a message!
