Green Shift

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THE EXPERT

JOYCE MSUYA, ACTING EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, UN ENVIRONMENT PROGRAMME, SAYS SUSTAINABILITY IS A TREND THAT NEEDS TO BECOME A CLASSIC

Sustainability is a simple idea, but it requires an extreme makeover of our lifestyles. It means redesigning our lives in a way that doesn’t harm our planet and threaten our natural resources. To sustain it we must reimagine everything, from the clothes we wear and the food we eat, to how we travel and the way we heat and cool our homes.

There is nearly always a sustainable alternative. And with sustainability becoming more fashionable and accessible, we can find eco-friendly clothing in nearly every store, see plastic disappearing from the supermarkets; and getting around on a bicycle, in an electric car, or using public transportation is becoming cheaper and easier.

Embrace circularity, which means minimising food waste, ending our obsession with single-use plastic, and avoiding throwaway items that can’t be recycled. It is about seeing the value in the discard pile. Humanity used an estimated 90 billion tonnes of resources in 2017. More than 50 per cent of that was dispersed or emitted as waste, while less than 10 per cent was cycled back into the economy.

It is important to celebrate the beauty of our natural world while simultaneously taking stock of urgent and persisting environmental issues. And World Environment Day is an opportunity to do that. This year’s theme is air pollution, which is the great equaliser of our time. It affects the rich and poor alike, and crosses natural and geographic borders. Every year around seven million people, including 6,00,000 children, die prematurely because of air pollution. That is 800 avoidable deaths every hour, and countless others suffering ill-health.