Sustainability Requires Change

Albert Einstein's famously said "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results".  Many of us talk a lot about creating a sustainable planet, but we're not changing our behaviors very much.  Not really.  We continue to live our lives the same way we have for the last few decades, and continue to consume what we need and want like there are no consequences to our decisions.  If we're truly serious about creating a sustainable planet, we much change the way we live our lives.  Several examples:

• Two weeks ago, I attended a two-day CSR conference in New York City and bottles of water were positioned everywhere for the attendees.  Bottled water?  Why?  New York City has some of the cleanest, best tasting tap water on the planet.  Why not have old-fashioned reusable pitchers and washable glasses for people to drink out of?  Given that 80% of plastic water bottles end up in land fills, is drinking water out of a plastic bottle being socially responsible?  Is it sustainable?  I mentioned this to the conference organizer and watched his face transform into the look of:  "OMG!  We never thought of that!"

• Our youngest daughter attended a product safety and sustainability conference in Dongguan, China last week.  Same issue:  tables full of plastic water bottles.  She mentioned the disconnect to the meeting organizer and suggested "The hotel offers very good, clean, filtered water.  Why pay for imported bottled water?  Just ask the hotel to put out pitchers and glasses.  It's free for every meeting here.  Filtered tap water is much more sustainable."

I was an undergraduate psychology major and essentially modeled my graduate studies and career around individual and collective behavioral change.  Changing behavior requires a conscious effort to do so.  When we want to change, we're basically telling ourselves that whatever we're doing at the moment either isn't working or a new behavior is better for us in some way - such as losing weight, quitting smoking, not wearing our seat belt, engaging in unprotected sex - whatever the issue.  Change also requires a little time.  For example, quitting smoking is a 21-day event to get rid of the physical addiction to nicotine and get rid of the habit of pulling out a pack of cigarettes and lighting one when we feel a bit of stress.

How can we start changing our lives to help create a sustainable planet?

• Start drinking tap water.  If you don't like the taste, or if your water is known to be bad for you, contact your political leaders and demand that they fix the problem.  Mother Nature gave us clean water.  Man has polluted it and Man can clean it up.  In the mean time, buy a good water filter and filter your water.  
• Use the drinking fountain at work.  If you don't like the taste of the water at work, tell your boss and ask if it can be fixed.  In the mean time, take a reusable container to work with your own filtered water.
• Organize your shopping to minimize unnecessary trips.  If you live in the suburbs, like most of us in the USA and many other parts of the world do, think about how you can efficiently organize your daily or weekly trips to minimize the fuel you use.  And, can you double up with a friend or neighbor to do your errands together?  It's a great time to connect with friends and save energy.
• If you're driving and are stopped in traffic, like at a drive-up bank or pharmacy window for more than a minute, turn off the car's engine.  You're wasting gas letting it run.
• When you go to bed, turn down your thermostat and turn it down when you leave for work.  Most of us sleep better in cool environments.  The majority of Scandanavians put their infants outside in their strollers for their afternoon naps.  It's been proven the little ones sleep longer and better.  If no one is at home while you're at work, why heat the home and waste the energy?
• When you go to the store - any store - are you buying more than you need?  Need and want are two different subjects.  Rewarding ourselves occasionally is a good thing.  We all need a reward or something that makes us feel better - like having our favorite dessert. But having that dessert every day, or at every meal, will eventually bring unwanted consequences - extra weight.  Do you really need that new pair of jeans when you already have seven pair in the closet?  Think about your purchasing decisions before you buy something.  Make a list when you go to the store and only buy from that list.

If you have ideas on how we can change, individually or collectively, to make a more sustainable planet, please post your comments below.  I'd like to hear from you.