Sustainability 

What is sustainability?

Sustainability and Conservation, are important tools for us, as humans that produce waist to be conscious, when possible, about our choices as consumers and dwellers of this earth. Sustainability and Conversation measures are often unafforable to people in countries that do not focus on sustainable living in attempt to conserve the nature and land around us. This is another way we as humans can respect our environment and those who have lived before us on these lands. 

Social

Social Sustainability is a philosophy of doing our part to be active within our communities in ways that are reducing overall burdening of citizens. Being involved in community building through the healing our generational trauma, finding our equity instead of equality. 

Environmental

Environmental Sustainability is a philoshophy of doing our part in preserving, and healing the planet we walk on, while taking into account our current world. For some its easier to switch from big box stores, to sustainable refill shops. For some, its cleaning up our streets and parks. For many, it's avoiding plastic and reminding ourselves to recycle. 

Economical

Economical Sustainability, is the hope of philsophy adoption that could allwo us to find a way to have an economy that favors equitable wealth among the many, and not a few stakeholders in all economical affairs. Again this philsophy that focuses on how one runs a business or economy/government. 

Reduce

Think about the things you need to purchase to sustain a comfortable life, and decide if there are anythings outside of that group that maybe you can make, already have, or could borrow from a friend.  Reducing waist can also look like preparing meals and inviting guests so none of it goes to waist. 

Reuse

There are many ways to Reuse things in daily life, such as: reusing containers that come with the produce you have to by at the store, see if people in your area could benefit from the containers or other resources you often throw out. In other ways this can mean donating clothes and buying second-hand clothing. 

Recycle

Finding local recycling centers, asking friends/neighbors /coworkers if they have recycling & maybe to coordinate drop off with you if they are having trouble accessing recycling options. Are there ways in which the items your recycling can be reused in other ways? 

Why is sustainability not accessible for everyone?

Many people can't afford the products that are marketed in most sustainable spaces, making conservation somewhat exclusive towards wealthier individuals. However, there are some businesses and sustainability groups that focus on bridging this gap between SocioEconomic Groups. You can also create support groups in your area to support one another in the purchasing or borrowing of sustainable goods. (ie. jars, food, cleaning supplies, clothes, blankets, even services, etc.)

We can brigde the gap of accessibility for eco-friendly goods by participating more in the market of them. By ensuring customerism, small business can lower prices and support their communities more than ever. As long as we do our best to shop small business and eco friendly when we can, we are actively making a difference on our planet. 

Resources I am looking for:

Where should I shop?

Small businesses are always going to be more expensive, until lots of people regularly shop there. We can all make an active effort to shop at small businesses when we can. Avoid places that are owned by large corporations. If you are fiscally able to spend more money than it's always helpful to find a long lasting product that may be more expensive upfront but lasts in the long run! Avoid plastic:)

Most affordable options?

Buying in Bulk (You can see if neighbors or community members would want to split the larger purchases with you) 

Share Reusable Products (having a lawn mower for the street, sharing a tent within a friend group)

Unwrapped items (items that don't have packing)

Compostable Products (products that are compostable at the end of their lifetime)

Long-Lasting Products (products that are made to replace a single/few-use products that elliminate recurrent purchasing)



What is Ethical Consumerism?

Doing your homework on the brands and companies that benefit from your purchase, and their political/social  intentions. There are levels to being conscious of who, what, where, when, and how, you're spending your money; any of them are helpful when shopping. 

Remember that sustainability is about cutting out harmful consumerism in relation to how it effects our ecosystem.

Supporting My Community?

When thinking about our impact on another there are so many levels to which we effect each other, that we may want to improve. Most of us are good at picking up our trash, or shoveling snow off the side-walk. But we also have the ability to do so much more with the community around us and those we create that can benefit the masses. (like community gardens, group activities, meal-sharing, support,etc)

Things that are easier to share or swap as a community:

How do I find Sustainable shops near me, or that ship around the US?: 

Here we have attached our favorite website that has a United States directory for all the sustainable goods you could ask for. Everything from eco-friendly merchandise, to refill shops for cleaning products, faical care, hair care, foods, oils, and more! 

(We are not being paid to feature litterless, but their website has always been so user friendly and knowledgable)

Best First Eco-Friendly Switches:

Are you looking at the ingredients and don't know what they mean? 

There can be a lot of miss information and scare tactics when it comes to picking cleaning agents or goods for yourself or your family. We have a few different resources to help you find the best information on those ingredients, and give you some peace of mind. 

Understand Skin Deep - this site has gradings and information on most chemicals used in soap and skin care products. Check them out and drop the chemical in question into their search bar. 

Chemical Safety Facts - this site will help with any really concerning chemical interactions or things to be aware of. 

US EPA: Basics of Green Chemistry - this site is a more educational source for finding and seeking out the chemicals that are healthy or avoid those you want to stay away from. 

There is more research being done to finish this page, please be patient with us. 

If you would like to help us write about commonly silenced areas or personal experiences you may have with these topics, contact us at thisisactivism2023@gmail.com or fill out our Comments page. We want our website to be a continuous growth of knowlegde to share with each other in a positive way. There are so many things we don't talk about and we should!