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Find A Way for Sustainable Living
SUSTAINABLE LIVING
We can count ourselves lucky to be living in a western, industrialised nation. Technological and medical advances of the 21st century are providing us with an unparalleled high standard of living. The majority of our country's population can enjoy the benefits of access to very good health care, clean drinking water, sanitation, good and spacious shelter, efficient transportation systems, and more technological gadgets and entertainment than we have time to enjoy. But can we go on like this?
According to on-going scientific reports of the current and predicted state of the global environment, it is clear that we cannot go on with business as usual. Canadians and Americans are an embarrassing number one world-wide in per capita energy consumption. With that comes a high level of air pollution and significant use of non-renewable natural resources. We have become mega-consumers-a dream for sales people, merchants, and banks yet any environmentalist's and the environment's nightmare.
On the following pages of Find A Way for Sustainable Living we want to offer you some information, solutions, and resources on how to reduce your impact in every-day life. We address six main areas:
The order of these main areas is random and does not necessarily reflect priority of one over another. In fact, we want you to understand how each aspect of our lives is interconnected with many other areas. Poor practices in one area will affect many other aspects of our daily lives, or those of others, including our natural environment.
We strive to inform and encourage family, friends, students, colleagues, and fellow-citizens to try and conduct their lives in ways, which will reduce their ecological footprint. Our goal is to make our lifestyles more sustainable. We want you, your family, and our shared environment to be healthy long into the future. As with anything in life, the first step starts with you and each of us. Be the change you want to see!
An Ecological Footprint is the measure of the area of land, amount of water, and other natural resources a human population requires to produce the resources it consumes and to absorb its wastes, based on the most current technology. It can be estimated by using an online calculator, which contains all the required parameters. The concept was developed by scientists William Rees and Mathis Wackernagel and published in their book, 'Ecological Footprint: Reducing Human Impact on the Earth' (1995).
Martina Rowley is an environmental communicator with the main interest in providing business leaders and the general public with education about, and solutions for, sustainable living and environmental protection. She is completing a Bachelor in Environmental Studies with Honours at York University in June 2008 with a specialization in Urban Studies, has a Diploma in Environment & Development, and is an Associate of the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment in the UK. When she is not working, Martina is an avid outdoor enthusiast and athlete. As an immigrant from the UK and now Canadian citizen, she loves spending time in the great Canadian outdoors and cottage-country. She also plays flute.
