Sustainability is the practice of maintaining ecological, social, and economic health by meeting present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs. It balances environmental protection, social equity, and economic viability to meet these goals. Through meeting these goals, we can all do our part in protecting the environment.
Some Facts:
Did you know that bees pollinate 1/3 of all food we eat, and that coral reefs support 1/4 of all marine life? By not recycling properly we are destroying these habitats for animals, and slowly ruining our own daily lives.
Did you know that soil nutrition is lower then it was before? That means that the food we eat today is less nutritious then it was in previous generations. This is happening through the chemicals used by farmers for growing plants.
Did you know that if we continue on the track of wasting plastic in the oceans, plastics may outweigh fish in the ocean by 2050.
Recycling a single 500 ml aluminium beer can save enough energy to power a TV for over 4 hours!
A 5-minute shower is equal to 20-35 gallons of water.
More than 1000 gallons of water are necessary to produce a pound of meat, while only 25 gallons of water can yield a pound of wheat.
Single-use plastic has been found in the world’s deepest ocean trench; a plastic bag was found in the Mariana Trench, 10,898m below the surface.
If emissions continue to rise at their current rate, almost a third of species could be near extinction by the end of the 21st century.
On average, one ChatGPT prompt requires almost 10 times the electricity to process as a standard Google search.
More than 4.7 million hectares of forests – an area larger than Denmark – are lost every year.
Every year, approximately 4 million tons of waste is sent to the landfill from New York City. Nearly a third of that waste is food. Of the food waste generated, 68% was considered still edible.
22.6 million residents in the New York Metro Air are exposed to unhealthy air. Air pollution from ozone and fine particulate matter can harm everybody but is especially dangerous for children, older adults, and people with lung diseases or asthma.
Why Sustainability: We need to save our planet. To quote Jane Goodall, "We need to realize we're part of the environment, that we need the natural world. We depend on it. We can't go on destroying. We've got to somehow understand that we're not separated from it, we are all intertwined. Harm nature, harm ourselves"
By making small changes to be more sustainable, we can make a big difference together!