Members of an international team work on a plan for eliminating all carbon dioxide emissions from space travel. (Courtesy of Zero Fotografie)
Throughout October we will be focusing the blog on issues surrounding youth and sustainability. We will explore what young people around the world are doing to make their lives more sustainable, from small, individual actions to larger projects by school groups and coalitions of students. As part of this focus, we will try and highlight youth conferences and events worldwide that will be going on the rest of 2011 and throughout 2012, in the hopes that you may find a gathering of like-minded young people to share your ideas and interests on climate change. We are looking for suggestions of youth environmental programs to alert people to, so please post in the comment section if you know of an upcoming event or are part of such a group!
Before we delve into this topic further, let’s answer the question: What is sustainability? According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA),
Sustainability is based on a simple principle: Everything that we need for our survival and well-being depends, either directly or indirectly, on our natural environment. Sustainability creates and maintains the conditions under which humans and nature can exist in productive harmony, that permit fulfilling the social, economic and other requirements of present and future generations. Sustainability is important to making sure that we have and will continue to have, the water, materials, and resources to protect human health and our environment.
What does sustainability have to do with climate change? It turns out the two are very closely linked. From sustainable, clean energy sources (like wind and hydropower) that reduce our use of fossil fuels and Greenhouse Gas emissions, to sustainable building of cities as populations grow, to developing strategies for sustainable resource management that ensures continued access to clean water and trees. While governments, non-profit organizations and communities around the world are tackling these issues, there is also an incredible movement of youth taking action to ensure their own lives are as sustainable as possible. By looking forward to the future: access to things like food and water, temperature and sea level rise, the increase of extreme weather events, these young people recognize the need to take action today.
What do you do in your everyday life to be more sustainable?
the basic of sustainability i’ve applied in my everyday life is,
being wise in using energy
thd world needs a savior. I like your progress so far and hope to partake.
It is real useful and greatful to involve youth at their younger age to involve themselves in this Global burning issue concerning enviroment. In my school we have this group called ROOTS AND SHOOTS.We educate the school community and sometimes out of school about the importance of conserving enviroment however the main challenge we face is fund that could help us to reach in rural areas where they lack awareness of global burning issue of enviroment and lack of updates because we lack computers and free internet access. Thank you.
Hi Noella,
Can you tell us more about Roots and Shoots? We’d love to learn more about it and possibly feature you and the program on our Facebook Page (Global Conversations: Climate) and/or the blog! Thanks!
I belong to an island community, there is a instance that every family had to shift their house after every 5 to 10 years latter due to ferocity of erosion. For this reason my community always try to protect erosion in sustainable way, so that we stay long behind the coast. From my point of view, sustainability means to protect any unusual change of environment.
being an active and young youth of nepal,i have personally and institutionally undertaken some efforts for envt.al conservation.i would thus like 2 join my green hands with the global community for creation of natural earth.
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Trees, grass. crops, need even more CO2 than they are getting now, for best prosperity. 150y ago, CO2 was completely depleted in the atmosphere for healthy trees / crops. Trees say that they need more CO2; Al Gore says the opposite. Who would you believe? Who is the clown to know that 150y ago was the best amount of CO2? More H2O + CO2 = GREEN. Less CO2 and less water saved on the land = bushfires, deserts, starvation. Instead of using the money to build extra dams = to improve the climate; dams prevent floods and droughts – the International Organized Kyoto Cult are laundering tax $$$$ for themselves, shame, shame.
A very spectacular post.
I enjoy reading a post that can make men and women think. Also, thanks for allowing me to comment!