Sustainable Living
Sustainable Living does not always mean giving up comfort. Often the result is an increase in comfort, greater financial stability, a less intensive lifestyle resulting in a reduction in stress and an increase in life's pleasures.
Our aim is to help you achieve and maintain a high quality of life by reducing your material footprint:
Reach High, Tread Lightly
Sustainability means living within the means of the planet to support ourselves and generations in the future.
In the UK we use nearly three times our "fair share" of the Earth's resources, in North America they use 5 time. Because we are such intensive consumers others are forced into poverty and death through disease, hunger and exploitation. All so we can continue our lifestyle which has been shown not to make us happy!
It does not have to be this way.
We can still reach for high quality whilst treading lightly - reducing our footprint. Not just our carbon footprint but our whole consumption footprint.
There are many things you can do to reduce your impact on the planet. This site is designed to help you to find information to help you make a practical difference.
In the words of Mahatma Gandhi "Live simply, that others may simply live"
Greenwash:
Beware. There is a lot of "Greenwash" about, luring us into new ways of consuming with promises of saving the planet. Do not be fooled. We cannot consume our way out of the crisis. We need to consume less.
Futerra Sustainability Communications have produced a superb "Guide to Greenwash" which explains what Greenwash is and gives excellent guidance on how to spot and avoid it - downloadable here
Biofuels are a classic example of what can go wrong. What started as a good idea to reduce carbon emissions and increase energy efficiency has been changed by the application of the polictical and free market mindset into a potential catastrophe. Rain forest has been torn up to grow palm oil and food crops turned into bio-ethanol. All whilst the world cannot feed itself. Filling the tank of a SUV or 4x4 with bio-ethanol uses as much food crop as it takes to feed a person for a whole year.
