Sustainability is a wide and complex arrangement of cultural, spiritual and social dimensions. It also begins with passing on knowledge and experience from one generation to the other.
What is environmental sustainability, and why does it matter? Here’s one definition. There may be many others.
“Sustainability, the long-term viability of a community, set of social institutions, or societal practice. In general, sustainability is understood as a form of intergenerational ethics in which the environmental and economic actions taken by present persons do not diminish the opportunities of future persons to enjoy similar levels of wealth, utility, or welfare.” ((Meadowcroft, J. (2023, November 7). Sustainability | Description, Theories, & Practices. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/science/sustainability))
It matters, because :
- it helps preserve the integrity of biodiversity
- it is vital to the conservation of resources such as water
- we want to leave a legacy future generations will be able to enjoy and protect
- it contributes to improving health and well-being
- it gives every ecosystem a chance to benefit from better environmental conditions
The United Nations have developed a set of 17 sustainable development goals.
Sustainability
Through the years, here are a few things I’ve noticed and would like to share.
First, what is green washing?
“Behaviour or activities that make people believe that a company is doing more to protect the environment than it really is”. ((https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/greenwashing))
A few measures that can be adopted to help reduce the carbon footprint :
- Venue : Use existing venues if possible ;
- Energy : Optimize energy by using energy-efficient lighting ;
- Water : Ban single-use plastic bottles and make available points where public, as well as staff and athletes can fill their reusable bottles, use rainwater for field maintenance ;
- Transportation : Easily accessible by active and public means of transportations, such as walking, bicycle, bus, subway or train ;
- Nutrition : Prefer plant-based alternatives ;
- Waste : Promote waste reduction and even zero waste, by installing properly-marked bins and asking volunteers to help guide the public in proper waste disposal ;
- Marketing : Promotional items? When there is indication of a date, it becomes a single-use product, even though it can be reused multiple times ;
- Equipment : Making sure your equipment is always in pristine condition helps keep it for a long period of time. Think about the life cycle of your equipment and consider if there really is a need to change/upgrade your sport equipment on a yearly basis ;
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Have you ever heard of “environmentally-friendly web design”? It is the “Art or process of designing websites((https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/web-design))not harmful to the environment, or trying to help the environment.”((https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/environmentally-friendly)) Energy consumed has an impact on the environment. However, here are a few tips to help you reduce the amount of energy in the wide digital space :
- Choose a local host, that uses renewable energy ;
- Use a dark themed template for website designing ;
- Limit the usage of heavy plugins ;
- Try to limit the number of pages ;
- Limit the usage of heavy images and graphics ;
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