Sustainable

Living.

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Sustainable

Living A web publication

ISBN 978-953-56691-1-1

Published by Nektarina Non Profit for

Education for Sustainability project

www.education4sustainability.org

September 2012

Publisher Sandra Antonovic

Collected by Elena Livia Minca

Design and production Nektarina Non Profit

Nektarina, udruga za pomoc pri obrazovanju

Zagreb, Croatia

www.nektarinanonprofit.com

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Sustainable

living

The world is facing toady many challenges, some

of which are likely to continue and amplify in the

future if a response is not sought in the present.

Climate change, growing global population, re-

source depletion and environmental degradation are

just a few of them. In this context, changing the

way we live under a whole number of aspects, aban-

doning wasteful practices and adopting a responsible

behaviour becomes a necessity.

In fact, it will not be enough for an

“enthusiast” minority to adhere to this lifestyle

change and getting billions of people to do the same

is in itself one of the greatest challenges. There-

fore, raising awareness about what sustainable liv-

ing entails is of great importance.

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Instead of a definition

In tune with the meaning of sustainability, a sustainable

way of living can be seen as one that has the least impact on the

environment, therefore being able to continue for a long period

of time. This implies a reduction in the consumption of natural

resources used to maintain the current living standards and gen-

erally not taking anything from the environment that cannot be

replaced.

As the consumption of resources generates a carbon output

through the daily activities, sustainable living goes hand in

hand with the carbon footprint (the amount of greenhouse gases

generated by an entity) carried by an individual, household or

community. Taking action to reduce the carbon footprint trans-

lates in a more sustainable way of life.

Another related concept is that of ecological footprint. In-

troduced for the first time at the beginning of the nineties by

William Rees and Mathis Wackernagel, the term is used to weigh

the demands that humans put on nature through their activities

against the Earth’s ability to replace these resources.

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In other words, it measures how much land and water would be

required to sustain the practices of a given population in terms

of resources needed and waste absorbed. Not surprisingly, it

currently takes the Earth one year and a half to regenerate what

humans use in a year. Remediating this dangerous record is im-

perative and sustainable living can play a very important role

in achieving this.

In fact, many communities and individuals have already

started to implement sustainable living ideas and the results

are likely to convince that this is not just another trendy

passing phase. However, in order to reach the change at the

needed scale, sustainable behaviours must become normal, easy to

take on to and possibly even fun. This would offer anyone an in-

centive to desire the change. Furthermore, not only individuals

are a part of this change, but also the companies. If enough

pressure is expressed by their clients, companies will have to

recognize these needs and act accordingly, sustainably, to sat-

isfy them.

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Dimensions

of

sustainable

living

Since sustainable living is about mak-

ing lifestyle choices in a modern world, it

makes sense to analyse the various possi-

bilities and ideas by breaking down some

general categories.

For the purpose of this paper five

categories have been analysed (shelter and

energy, food, transportation, water, and

waste), although more dimensions can always

be argued. Also, the criteria described un-

der each category have an illustrative

character and are not intended to be exclu-

sive in any way.

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Shelter and energy

The shelter is often the place where a person spends most of

his/her time and it is also one of the basic human needs. Since

so many of our activities take place indoors, sustainable prac-

tices in this field are very important. Although the considera-

tions below refer mainly to houses, most of them can be extended

to other purpose-buildings where people carry out their activi-

ty, such as offices or commodity buildings. Some of the most

cited features for a sustainable house include:

Location: Preferably, the house should be placed in proximity

to essential services (i.e. work, stores, schools, etc) or

should have available sustainable transportation choices;

Sustainable design: Several design features can help a house

in having as little negative impact on the environment as pos-

sible. These include: orientation towards the sun and creating

temperature buffer zones in order to create a good microcli-

mate; using recycled, reclaimed or environmentally friendly

building materials, preferably from local sources; minimizing

construction waste; minimizing the use of toxic substances,

etc;

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Electricity supply: In sustainable homes electricity may be

generated in-house through renewable means (in which case the

excess can be sold to a utility company through a grid connec-

tion) or it may be procured from a power plant that is using

renewable sources. The most commonly used renewable sources of

energy are wind, solar, water, biomass, and geothermal;

Heating and cooling: A sustainable house should have improved,

preferably from green materials, wall and loft insulation in

order to conserve energy and reduce the amount of heating and

cooling needed. Also, roofs should be covered with reflective

material that will help diminish the amount of heat they ab-

sorb. Roofs covered in living grass are also a popular choice;

Energy efficiency: The household appliances, lighting systems

and all other electronic devices should be energy efficient

ones (often they have a special label indicating this). Moreo-

ver, avoiding unnecessary consumption by reducing the idle en-

ergy use is also common practice.

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Food

The increasing trend in global population has already raised

many questions regarding the capacity of the planet to feed all

the people in the future. This is a very serious challenge and

it will be very hard to find a solution if sustainable practices

are not going to be adopted starting in the present. Here are

some of the most important aspects in this area:

Intensive agriculture vs. Organic farming: In order to maxim-

ize production and minimize costs the intensive agriculture

practiced today all over the world uses methods such as

heavy irrigation, various pesticide, herbicide and fertiliz-

er applications, concentrated monoculture production, etc.

All of these actions translate into impacts on the environ-

ment, which can take several forms, from soil erosion and

increased soil salinity to land degradation and biodiversity

loss. At the opposite pole, organic farming is based on sus-

tainable techniques, such as crop rotation, composting,

green manure and biological pest control. In addition, or-

ganic farming strictly limits the use of fertilizers, pesti-

cides and other similar substances;

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Food distribution and availability: Nowadays food can travel

very long distances before reaching our table, making it

highly unsustainable because transport adds to the carbon

footprint. The alternatives are buying locally and preserv-

ing food. This not only reduces transport costs, but it also

stimulates local economy. Moreover, local, small-scale farm-

ing utilizes more sustainable agriculture methods. As a

plus, buying the goods in their natural season of growth re-

duces energy intensive greenhouse production, while storing

them outside of the growing season enhances the independence

from the supermarket;

Meat consumption: The large scale production of meat is also a

great consumer of natural resources, especially water and

fodder. Therefore eating meat is a very carbon-intensive

habit. Besides reducing the amount of meat we purchase, we

can alleviate this burden by choosing organically raised,

free range or grass fed meat.

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Transportation

The oil-dependent transport sector is claiming an increasing

share of the carbon emissions pot. In this context, the conven-

tional automobile industry is drifting away from sustainable

practices. A few alternatives can be:

Public transport: Depending on the development needs of a set-

tlement, a combination of underground, rail, bus, tram or

trolley networks can be used to reduce the car dependency.

Dedicated lanes for public transport vehicles can help in the

process;

Carpooling – sharing a car for a journey with other passengers

– is another way to alleviate traffic in busy areas;

Non-motorized solutions: Bicycles are the most popular choice

due to their many advantages: carbon-free travelling, allevi-

ating congestion, lowering air and noise pollution, and in-

creasing physical exercise;

Electric and hybrid cars: although still in small numbers and

not fully assed in terms of sustainable resource use in their

production cycle, these vehicles may become popular sustaina-

ble transport options in the future.

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Water

Water is an essential resource for the humankind and thus one of

the most impacted upon. Given the population growth and the in-

creasing water demand, sustainable practices in this field are a

necessity. In fact, simple, everyday measures can be taken by an-

yone to address this issue. Below are a few examples:

Water conservation: The used water from washing machines,

sinks, showers and baths can be reused for irrigation and toi-

lets. Rainwater harvesting is also becoming more frequent in

areas dominated by water scarcity. Important quantities of wa-

ter are used in gardening, so measures taken to prevent water

waste are very important: choosing drought resistant and na-

tive plants, planting slopes to reduce runoff, grouping plants

by watering needs, placing mulch in the proximity of plants to

lessen evaporation, watering during early mornings on non-

windy days to reduce water evaporation, using drip-irrigation

systems and soaker hoses, etc.

Toilets: The amount of water used when flushing can be reduced

by adding in the toilet tank weighs that replace a volume of

water. Fixing leaks is another way to save water. If in-

stalling a new toilet, sustainable options can be a low flush

or composting toilet;

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Showers: Methods to reduce water usage include switching to

low-flow showerheads, taking shorter showers or insulating wa-

ter pipes;

Dishwashers and sinks: For dishwashers, the best water conser-

vation method is to only run a full machine; if a low-flow

setting exists, it should be used regularly. For sinks, a

screw-on aerator, fixing existing leaks or rinsing dishes sim-

ultaneously represent a few sustainable alternatives.

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Waste

Sustainable living also entails a responsible

waste management. The classical “reduce, reuse,

recycle” methods are still the best approach, as

they deal with all the phases in the life of a

product. For each of them there is a wide span of

best practice examples, ranging from reducing pa-

per waste, not buying unnecessary items or choos-

ing long-lasting goods to reusing packaging mate-

rials, composting organic matter and recycling as

much as possible.

Waste is usually thought to be the responsibility

of the final consumer. After all, he buys the

product - he is in charge of correctly disposing

of the remaining waste. However, much of the

product’s life cycle is spent in the “making-of”

process, so the producer should also claim a part

of the responsibility, especially when it comes to

packaging, a feature that the consumer is forced

to accept as it comes. The input materials, the

production procedure, the distribution of the

products are other activities where sustainability

can be argued.

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Instead of a conclusion

Besides the themes investigated above, sustainable living may

be analysed from many other perspectives. Sustainability in

sectors such as tourism, education or health are also of

great interest. But in order to make sustainable living work,

we need to look at them as a whole.

The interconnection of our life choices today is both the

friend and the enemy of sustainable practices. As long as we

opt for sustainable items and actions, the increasing demand

will generate more supply and vice versa. And we already know

that the choices we make today will impact on the future gen-

erations, so better choose wisely.

Sources we used when compiling the information presented in

this publication:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainable_living

http://www.sustainableliving.com.au/

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sustainable-business/lets-talk-

sustainable-living

http://www.supergreenme.com/go-green-environment-

eco:Sustainable-Living

http://www.footprintnetwork.org/en/index.php/GFN/page/

footprint_basics_overview/

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Photos used in the publication:

Photos credits Nektarina Non Profit

Wind turbines, near Vienna, Austria

Flower pots, Graz, Austria

Coffee time, Barcelona, Spain

Gazebe, Graz, Austria

Benches, Graz, Austria

House, Annapolis Royal, Canada

Wind turbines, near Vienna, Austria

Vegetables, Halifax, Canada

Bicycles, Graz, Austria

Water, Evian les Bains, France

Waste, Halifax, Canada

Green chair, Halifax, Canada

Disclaimer:

Any data presented here has been compiled from different

sources found on the internet. We do not own (copyrights of)

the information presented; we just collected, compiled and

edited the information. The internet sources of information

are explicitly stated in the articles. That said, we are not

responsible for inaccuracies or factual mistakes, should

there be any.

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ISBN 978-953-56691-2-8

Nektarina Non Profit Publication