Why Are We Green
admin February 12th, 2008
Green means many things to many people but simply put green means being better to the environment and having a sustainable future for the earth and its inhabitants.
Here is a great description of the word sustainable and why we us this word, instead of the all-encompassing word…green.
What is Sustainability?
Sustainability is a way of thinking and living. It involves making conscious decisions about how your actions (how and what you consume) impact the environment, your community, people around you and across the world.
At the end of the day, sustainability is about using less; hence the popular sustainability slogan Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.
Reduce: Minimize the amount of things that you use and throw away, if it doesn’t have to be produced in the first place then it doesn’t have to be discarded. For example, don’t buy anything that you don’t need (the key word here is need), produce less waste (avoid things with lots of packaging) and buy products that can be reused (like rechargeable batteries).
Reuse: Most things can be used for different purposes, use what you have to its fullest capacity. For example, buy second hand clothes (or better yet organize a clothing swap), reuse glass jars to store food or other items, and reuse envelopes.
Recycle: If you are unable to reuse, recycle. In Vancouver we can recycle glass bottles, cans, paper, newsprint and aluminum foil. You can also find facilities to recycle computers, TVs and other electronics.
Sustainability goes beyond the environment, it involves people too. Be critical, ask questions: is the most sustainable option the best? Why is organic food more expensive? Who has access to the more sustainable choices? Where are my clothes made? Where is my food grown? Who is growing my food?
So at the conference we ask that you use recyclable products, reuse a coffee cup instead of getting a new one and encourage others around you to do the same.
The bags you have are made from recycled fibres, the pens, vegetable oil, the plastics, recycled pop bottles, etc.
