In short: sustainability

There's more to life than just studying. Every week, we publish an article with information that may be important to you at school or outside of school. This time: what is sustainability and how can you apply it?

Sustainability. A word that comes up often, but remains a bit vague when you think about it. When someone talks about sustainability, it can be about many different things. For example, The environment and climate, the efficient use of raw materials and energy, a healthy balance between animals and nature… In short, you could say that sustainability is a healthy balance between people, the environment, and the economy without exhausting the Earth. With sustainability, we try to keep the Earth habitable for people, animals, and plants. 

Your CO2 footprint: 9000 kilos per year!

People often quickly assume that changing one person's behavior is pointless. It certainly is. Take the carbon footprint, for example. A carbon footprint is a calculation of greenhouse gas emissions that allows you to calculate your environmental impact. This carbon footprint takes everything into account, such as daily transportation, food, clothing, household energy, and all the new things you buy every year. Did you know that the average carbon footprint of one person is 2 kilos per year? To put it another way: that's the equivalent of three (female) elephants! If we could reduce that, we'd already be making a huge impact!

What can you do

I can hear you thinking: "Okay, that theory is great, but what can I do about it?" Well, a whole lot! Below, I'll list a few things you can start doing right away.

Journeys

Traveling has a significant impact on the environment. Why not take that bike instead of the moped or car? An added bonus: you'll get a workout in!

Economical with energy

Using a lot of energy in and around your home also has an impact. Try to be more frugal with it. Consider: 

• Shower for a shorter time
• Cold? Grab a warm sweater instead of turning up the heat!
• Turn off the lights in rooms that are unoccupied.
• Do you ever do laundry? Dry it on a drying rack instead of using the dryer.

Separating waste

The type of waste you need to separate varies by municipality. Separating residual waste, organic waste (vegetable, fruit, and garden waste), or paper is a good start!

Buy sustainable or reuse it

You can also make an impact by buying or reusing things. 

• The longer you can use a product, the better.
• When you buy something, check the quality mark: if it's sustainably produced, it's often labeled that. For example, the Fairtrade quality mark.
• Want to get rid of something? Then consider whether it could be reused elsewhere. You can sell clothing or take it to a recycling center. You can have your old furniture picked up by the thrift store. And if you have leftovers from a meal, you can use them in a new recipe the next day.
• Need something? The same applies here: maybe someone wants to get rid of it. See if you can find something secondhand. Consider Marktplaats, a thrift store, or even Vinted for clothing.

Are you going for it?

Hopefully, these tips and tricks will give you enough inspiration to get started. I'm really curious to see how much you'll reduce your carbon footprint! Hopefully, those three (female) elephants will be a lot fewer! 

Of course, this is far from all 

Are you struggling with something you can't find an answer to? Talk to someone you connect with, either at school or elsewhere. You can also email us at content@summacollege.nlPerhaps you'll help not only yourself, but others as well if we can put the topic on this page.

This article was written by

Celeste Koenen
Communication, Summa College

Would you like to email me? You can do so via content@summacollege.nl

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