(R)Evolving Respect

In the Fall, I had written a post about my sustainability ethic. In that post I talked about how I equate sustainability with respect. Today, I still believe that the roots of sustainability are in the principles of respect. As I said before, sustainability is respecting resources, respecting current generations, and respecting future generations. My thoughts on this have not wavered very much and if they have, they have wavered to expand my ideas on how very important respect is to preserving the earth.

Each week of the sustainability capstone series has introduced me to new topics that have broadened my view and knowledge about sustainability. Sustainability is more than just making resources last and improving the environment. Sustainability is about how we can make the world a better place for all that inhabit it. This entails social justice as well as environmental justice, which all chalk down to respect. We have to respect the issues that other parts of the world endure while respecting the resources that we drain with our comparatively lavish lifestyles here in California. We have to respect that people need to survive before they can worry about preserving fish populations and that we need to respect the fact that they might not want to follow the rules that are created by developed countries that form guidelines on how developing countries should develop. It's crazy how interconnected throughout policy that sustainability is. Almost every topic in the political and environmental realm can be weaved into the quilt that is sustainability.

I still struggle every day to meet my sustainability ethic because it is difficult to always remember to live up to it when I am so busy and don't know what I had for lunch that day. But, I have definitely stepped up my game since fall quarter, making small changes in my life that I hope will have some impacts on the earth and the people that I interact with. Since fall quarter, I have reduced my consumption of fast food, thus reducing the amount of unnecessary packaging and other food wastes. I have also increased my composting efforts on a family wide basis in my home. Instead of getting plastic cups for my iced coffee, I have started bringing a reusable cup to Dunkin Donuts when I get my coffee in the morning. Also, I have reduced the amount of times a week that I go there, saving gas and money. I tried cutting meat from my diet, but I have had a rough couple of weeks emotionally and it was hard to make a transition as significant as this. As my life starts to settle down, I will do my best to get back on track. Although I have lots of flaws and struggles, I am more aware of what I am doing wrong or that is against my morals, which is a large part of being able to make more sustainable choices in my life. I'm still working on it, but I have definitely improved upon my ethic since the fall.