SUSTAINABILITY

Let's take care of our environment like we're supposed to

For our world to flourish and thrive, there are numerous factors we are responsible for keeping in balance. While mother nature would carry on without us, the very opposite is valid for the human race.

If this symbiotic relationship is to continue, we must stop what we are doing and start identifying with our intimately conscious connection. The planet and all her wonders appear separate from us, but each action has a positive or negative effect that will eventually surface.

Collectively at 7.8 billion with an average of up to 35,000 decisions a day and an estimated 226.7 of those decisions revolving around food alone, we are doubtlessly capable of making a positive impact on the world.

The present practices supporting the supply and demand of food is severely out of harmony. By forcing nature into unnatural processes and using unethical products to do so, we are altering nature's rhythms in ways that are unfit for longevity.

While there are alternatives available and more on the horizon, the importance of these changes in lifestyle choices needs to be addressed. These include how we treat animals, ecosystems, farming practices, even our neighborhoods, and homes.

By perceiving ourselves as separate, we treat our planet with disregard and inconsideration. We often do this so freely because that is also how we treat ourselves and often each other. How can we begin to make a significant difference and lighten our carbon footprints?

One place to start that has a tremendous impact is food choices. These factors go from creation to digestion to the disposal process. The food industry, plagued with malpractices, has one focus, which is PROFIT.

"A system is corrupt when it is strictly profit-driven, not driven to serve the best interests of its people, but those of multinational corporations." ― Suzy Kassem, Rise Up and Salute the Sun: The Writings of Suzy Kassem.

The horrendous lives and conditions of factory farm animals, the violation of fragile ecosystems, and the pollution of essential elements are all grossly ignored misconceptions that need immediate attention.

Each of us controls industry demands with our purchases, and we can change the world one choice at a time. Buying only sustainable products, following a plant-based diet, and avoiding non-eco friendly packaging, helps lighten the load immensely. 

The main reason these issues continue is they aren't brought to our attention and require lifestyle changes, some major. Being conservative with waste is crucial, and most are too busy and distant from nature's boundaries to notice the effects.

Refuse resides along and within our oceans, deserts, miles of highways & interstates, even protected national forests in stark contrast to the beauty and nature.

The "animal agriculture" industry is a twisted nightmare hidden in the dark, along with closely tied industries that bring GMO's, pesticides, herbicides, and pharmaceuticals into our everyday commodities.

Along with the gross amount of deforestation of natural habitats for animal agricultural farming, the toxins used in conventional horticultural farming deplete the soil from essential nutrients and minerals, and substantially the food that is grown in it.

Not only are our resources compromised, but wildlife is jeopardized since the effects our life choices directly impact their life quality. Litter carelessly thrown from vehicles on the side of the road puts animals at risk of being hit or seeking food within city limits.

Garbage that makes its way into the ocean and rivers gets ingested and is responsible for the painful deaths of many land and sea creatures. There is accessibility to practically any product desired, but no thought as to where it goes after it has served its purpose and disregarded.

Incorporating conventional meat products and processed foods are not only unsustainable for the planet but also the body. Over time excessive meat inclusion in the diet causes a myriad of chronic health issues that one could easily avoid.

By millions of bypassing this option, the health care system is also getting overwhelmed to the point of unsustainability, which is significantly to blame on poor lifestyle options, whether by choice or the lack of access or knowledge of alternatives.

Populations being at this peak, we have made humanity into an entity of itself that must work to remain in balance with the planet, one individual at a time.

Mindfulness is the way to overcome this self-made obstacle. Collectively this current state of consumption on earth has been manifested, and a collective effort to change the direction into sustainability and reciprocation is imperative to continue it long term.

The balance of life relies on each participant to take what is needed, to give back when possible, and to cause no intentional harm within or outside oneself.

There is a belief that if we follow the one rule of treating others as we treat ourselves that most world problems would resolve. The current external state is a clear projection of what is developing within.

One possible reason for so much neglect and destruction occurring is how many people treat themselves in the demands of a highly stressed system.