– Your Sustainability –


Integrating sustainability into your life is not as hard as it seems! Are you interested in trying? Check out some tips we have selected for you and find out what fits best for you.

Zero Waste

We know that humans produce too much waste, but did you know that there are people who live “Zero Waste”?

As a little introducktion check out the video to your right. If you are super intreagued, you should definetly check out Kathryn’s Blog.

What do you think about this lifestyle? Could you live like this? We did see how easy some aspects can be, so why not implement some of them? Here are some super easy stepts that we all should try:

1) No plastic bags!
In Germany they even cost money, safe the coin and have a positive impact at the same time.

2) Ditch the plastic bottles
Yes, they might be lighter and you can fill them also up but they are also not safe to drink from after longer time of use. And again money can be a factor, if you don’t give them back you loose the Pfand 😉

3) Buy in bulk or products without packaging
It is possible. In supermarkets like REWE and Aldi you have some options for buying vegetables or fruit without a package. If you want to go a step further, you can go to city markets. There you can even buy meat without package, just bring your own containers. Look for the most convenient weekly markets near your place on the homepage of Aachen.

Especially in Aachen, there is the initiative “Aachen Unverpackt” that is active in the topic of sustainable lifestyle. The mostly student members volunteer to educate and inform the many people they can to achieve less waste consumption leading to a zero waste life. Since 2019, Prof. Traverso is the patron of this initiative.

A very interesting article about the history and the actual life with plastic is here.

 

Sustainability on your plate

Do you want to be more sustainable in your daily life and don’t really know how? Short anwer: reduce your animal products consumption! It is official: avoiding meat and dairy is ‘single biggest way’ to reduce your impact on Earth. Really.

In this section we do not intent to present why livestock is so damaging to our Planet, you probably heard that before, and the two articles tagged above present some more information about it. However, we want to make it more clear how important it is to be aware of what you are putting on your plate. Knowing the impact of your food is perhaps more important than riding a bike or taking shorter showers and, even though it is a personal choice, you should know what are the consequences of the choices you make – not only for Earth but also for your body.

Why not giving a chance and trying a Meatless Monday? See how it feels reducing it slowly, one recipe at a time. Have in mind that each time you give up on eating meat you are also reducing your carbon footprint and making a statement about the planet you want to live in.

Did you know that you can find a cool vegan restaurant in Aachen? We invite you to check PZ – vegan cultural restaurant.You could get inspired and get to know another different place in the city.

If you like to try your skills, here are 31 easy vegetarian recipes with 5 ingredients!

Regardless of your taste, your opinion or eating habits, it is a fact that our daily choices are impacting Planet Earth. Think about that when filling your plate.

Clothing and the environment

Do you know the term Fast Fashion? It describes inexpensive clothing with changing design every few weeks, sold in stores such as H&M, C&A and Forever 21. Altough this might seem like an interesting cool trend, for the environment (and for part of the supply chain of the clothes – the manufacturing workers) fast fashion could not be worse.

Why fast fashion is not sustainable? The TEDx Talk video bellow presents some good information and insights about the subject:

Wanna know more? Check out the Confessions of a Former Fast Fashion Executive article.

What can you do about it? Here are some tips to increase Your Sustainability:

– Check again the Sustainable Consumption lecture.

– Reduce shopping in retails and increase second hand shopping. Here are 6 Tips for Mastering Secondhand Shopping!

– Get yourself informed! Really think about what you are investing your money on, find out about the brands you like. Reflect what you REALLY need and what you are just buying out of an impulse.

Slow fashion is the new trend!

You and Planet Earth

At this point, we know you already understand why sustainability is important, how we got to climate change and what is (starting) being done to balance the situation. Good. Now, let’s take a moment to really understand why planet Earth is so important to us, humans, and how our relationship with it is going…

Since Industrial Revolution, our world is changing – and also our perceptions on it. Nature became “natural resources”, used mainly as input for the development of our civilization. That’s okay, because since then we did see many great achievements, such as stepping on the Moon and inventing the internet. However, now we are starting to understand the impacts of this intense transformation period both on humans (social inequalities, extreme poverty and hunger, to name a few) and on the environment (climate change, biodiversity loss and acidification, for example).

Now, we are passing through another shifting moment, where new transformations are being required on how we do business, how our lifestyles are and, at the basis of it all, how we see the planet. Many studies today show how interconnected nature is – did you know that dust from the Sahara desert feeds Amazon Forest’s plants? Pretty cool, right?! This is one example of a recent discovery that proves how much the planet is connected and needs balance to function and thrive.

And it doesn’t stop there. We – human beings – are also part of it. We are just smarter animals, we know now what we are doing and how we do things. Now we actually see our impact on and our relation with the Planet. A social-ecological approach, on the sustainability studies, focus on the intertwined relation between people and nature, humans and the ecosystem. Sounds interesting, huh? Open your mind and check the video bellow for a better understanding:

If you want to know more, there is a lot more to dig into this subject! Start with Reconnect to the biosphere and enjoy!

But how knowing this can impact Your Sustainability?

If you keep in mind how connected we are to nature and how our life choices impact it, it may be easier to engage in a more sustainable life. Here are some tips for staying tuned:

– Think about what you eat: if you eat lots of industrialized processed food, might be harder to remember it all comes from nature and that without it (and without the good climate conditions) there would be no food in our plates. So eat more fruits and vegetables! Your body will thank you a lot.

– Think about what you buy: food, clothing or products, your money is your vote, so choose wisely where to invest. Check if the company really cares for our planet as we do.

– Go natural! There are many ways to live a more natural life, one that can remind you everyday about our connection with the planet. Here is an inspiration: Natural Beauty: Why it’s Better for You.

What do you think (and feel) about it? Is nature important to you?

Inspiration

This video talks about the SDG and young people who are doing their part to acomplish them. Maybe you will get inspired after watching this clip 😉

If you want to know more about the individual people preseneted, we have prepared a list below the video for you guys.

Check out Elif Bilgin, the girl that made plastic out of bananas!!

Rohit Fenn is the inventor of the Vacu-Flush. 

Meet the Philly Urban Creators. As you have seen in the SDG video they have changed the face of a northern Philadelphia neighborhood, where criminal rates are super high and people life in a so called “food dessert”.

team-charis

Team Charis has developed a waste collection app (click here to see a video of how Discardious works) for nigeria, where there is no functioning official collection.

Melati and Isabel Wijsen are the anti plastic campainers in Bali. 
#oneislandonevoice

Muzoon Almellehan fights for education of refugee children and especially girls. She has been announced a Goodwill Ambassador by UNICEF