Manifesto For Change

Creating a sustainable future should be the main aim of all of us building a world that adults are proud to hand on to their children.

 North American Indians have historically told their children: “Mother Earth provides everything we need to sustain life. Nothing can be more important than protecting her for those who come after us.”

 Amazonian Indians tell us humans cannot be on one side of the world and nature the other as we need what other species provide. We must have greater respect for all species.

It is important that society understand the importance of local and global sustainability and how the two are intertwined.

 There is nothing wrong in making millions. It’s how you do it: with care, respect and responsibility not just for today but for the future and for all people.  However, the United Nations states 26% of the world’s human population is now using 86% of the world’s natural resources leaving the rest of the population with next to nothing. This 26%, that we are a part of, have now moved to other countries, not to help local people but to help themselves through cheap land, no environmental laws, cheap labour and even exploitation of the people. The UK is fast running out of landfill sites as we are not reducing our rubbish fast enough. We need to reduce what we take from the earth then reuse what we have and finally recycle, not just buy something and then throw it away.

 We need to stop wasting energy.  Why can’t we turn off lights when last to leave a room?  Why can’t we turn off electical appliances properly when we have finished using them rather than leave them on standby?  Why can’t we buy British food produce rather than buying cheap food coming in from far off places which contributes to the speeding up of climate change?  Tropical Rainforests are disappearing at the rate of a football field every minute and we cannot get them back.  Plastic pollution is clogging up our seas and oceans.  ‘Fast Fashion' uses child labour to keep it cheap and one pair of fast fashion jeans can use up to 8,000 litres of water to produce.  There are more species on the critical endangered species list than ever before.  Climate Crisis is impacting all of us with more floods, droughts, fires, coastal erosion, this is impacting on global food supplies.

We need to realise we all make an impact on the environment everyday by the things we buy, the food we eat, the material we use.

 Sustainability and Environmental Impacting can be found in your home, your place of work and in every aspect of education including all subject areas.

Actions for Change:

 Buy locally grown/produced vegetables and fruit whenever possible. Support local farmers.  Buy locally produced meat/locally caught fish.  Maximise all the food we use.  Compost food waste.  Turn off lights in rooms that are not being used or when you are the last to leave a room.  Use natural light to light a room  Turn off all electrical appliances when not being used rather than leave them on standby.  Don’t buy fast fashion clothing.  Check to see if a food or cosmetic products are using palm oil. Sustainable palm oil or no palm oil is best.  Make sure that paper used, especially in work, is used on both sides and that only paper used on both sides is recycled.  Make sure that there is a ‘Paper Reduction’ programme in place.  Use emails more productively to reduce paper use.

 In work and at home use ecofriendly and/or locally produced cleaning products.  In businesses including schools and colleges, staff engagement is vital if you are to reach your full potential. Make sure the staff are trained and reminded of their individual responsibilities in enabling their place of work and home to reach its full potential in becoming more sustainable.

by P Williams Environmentalist-in-Residence