Facts About Sustainability You Should Know
What comes to your mind when you think about sustainability? Is it a clean, green, fair Earth?
Here are some interesting facts about sustainability that might surprise you. And who knows? Some of these might even change the way you think about and behave towards the planet!
1. The term “sustainability” does not only include environmental sustainability
Sustainability was described only as late as 1987 as “ the development that meets our own needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. There are four dimensions to sustainable development; environment, economy, society, and culture. These are not separate but intertwined. Sustainability is a concept to think about the future in which environmental, societal, and economic considerations are balanced in the pursuit of an improved quality of life.
2. Agricultural Emissions could be reduced by as much as 70% by adopting a vegan diet and by 63% by adopting a vegetarian diet
Not surprisingly, the CO2 emissions from most plant-based products are as much as 10-50 times lower than most animal-based products. Out of any dietary shift, shifting to a vegan diet would save the largest chunk of emissions. All food production currently emits around 13.7 billion tonnes of CO2 in a year. A switch to veganism could save almost 8 billion tonnes per year of CO2 by the year 2050. Eating a vegetarian diet would slightly increase emissions compared to a vegan one but not by much. By 2050, dietary changes could also free up several million square kilometers of land that are currently used for animal-based products like pastures.
3. The world’s indigenous population only makes up around 5% of the global population but they protect 80% of global biodiversity
Local communities and Indigenous peoples own more than half the world’s lands customarily but have legal ownership rights to only 10%. For many generations, they have accumulated detailed knowledge of the specific ecosystems where they have lived in. Hence, they know almost every aspect of plant and animal life, from the mountain-tops to ocean floors.
About 80% of all the world’s biodiversity is present on indigenous people’s lands. Their consistent and holistic approach to biodiversity protection is the reason why they live in areas with the least damaged ecosystems and the richest biodiversity.
4. Recycling one aluminum can provide enough energy for a TV to run for three hours
Amongst other cool facts about aluminum cans, this is the one that made it to this list! Although recycling one can, run a television for three hours, the energy saved in one year from recycled cans is equivalent to 20 million barrels of oil or 12 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity. Aluminum is the most recycled container in the world and the cost of recycling an aluminum can is less than the cost to produce a new can. So from here on, don’t feel guilty about buying more things that come in aluminum packaging because they can also be recycled into the same form in a closed-loop; which means again and again!
5. Beef has 8 times a water footprint compared to a vegetarian option
Beef has such a high water footprint because beef cattle eat massive quantities of feed but are inefficient in converting that feed to meat compared to chickens or pigs. More feed means more water. The majority of the greenhouse gas emissions from beef comes from the methane production from cows and land conversion for grazing and animal feed. Analyzing the different sectors of emissions caused by beef such as land-use change, animal feed, processing, transport, packaging, etc., it was found that the transport emissions form only a slight fraction of the emissions from beef production (0.5%). Hence in the case of beef, “eating local” does not make a huge difference.
6. Leaving computer monitors switched on overnight or not having them on energy-saving mode, emits 9 million tons of carbon dioxide every year
To put this number into monetary terms, workers in the US waste $2.8 billion in energy costs if they do not switch off their monitors annually. Machines left on during off-hours can emit up to 20 million tons of carbon dioxide in this year alone which is roughly the equivalent impact of four million cars.
Leaving your computer on overnight is not only not good for your computer, but it also is not good for the planet. So please don’t forget to switch off your computers before you sleep.
7. The fashion industry and fast fashion is the 3rd most polluting industry in the world
The fashion industry accounts for 4% of greenhouse gas emissions, which is the same quantity of greenhouse gases emitted by France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, combined. In the current situation, 21% of the emissions can be reduced through changes in consumer behavior and 18% of the emissions can be saved through operational improvements in fashion brands. The industry is also responsible for 20-35% of the primary source of microplastics. These end up in the ocean and are ingested by marine life which is not only an environmental threat but also a threat to our health. Washing and wearing clothes made of synthetic fabric such as polyester and nylon gives out much more microplastics than natural fabrics such as cotton or wool. Hence, switching from synthetic fabric to natural ones can eliminate the microplastics released into the ocean. These days, consumers are being more aware of the impacts of fast fashion and synthetic fabric. This is demonstrated by the fact that the demand for Ethical clothing increased by around 20% in 2018 and has been steadily increasing since.
8. A plastic bag is used for an average of 12 minutes but remains in the environment for 1000 years
The most common form of plastic used is polyethylene which is not biodegradable. This means that microbes do not recognize it as food and it remains in the environment for long periods of time. When exposed to the sun, plastics photo-degrade. Even though they change form when they photo-degrade, they do not break down completely. They become microscopic synthetic granules that can infiltrate into the food cycle and build up in marine and terrestrial environments. This also means that although the plastic bag might degrade in a few years, its legacy will last forever in the food cycle. By the year 2050, it is also predicted that there will be more plastic than fish in the world’s oceans. What’s more? Studies show that you ingest a credit card worth of plastic every week!
9. The carbon dioxide emissions from all commercial flights represent around 2.5% of all global emissions
Although aviation has a significant contribution to CO2 emissions, it also contributes to global warming in other ways. When several factors other than just the CO2 emissions were analyzed, it was found that the aviation industry accounts for almost 3.5% of global warming!
Although airline travel has been steadily growing 5% over the past decade, the growth rate slowed to 4% in 2019. Flight shaming or “flygskam” is an anti-flying social movement that gained traction in 2018. The Swedish activist, Greta Thunberg has probably done more than anyone else to promote the idea that flying should be avoided wherever possible. With some celebrities also being very vocal about this issue, the number of people traveling by air in Sweden, France, the U.K, Germany, and the U.S has also decreased.
And now for some good news!
10. Due to the banning of hydrofluorocarbons and chlorofluorocarbons, the ozone hole is predicted to heal completely in the next 55 years
The protective shield of the atmosphere that protects us from the vicious UV rays of the sun will heal in our lifetime. Many parts of the ozone hole that used to span around 29 million square kilometers will be completely healed by the 2030s. The Montreal Protocol in 1987 on the “Substances that deplete the ozone layer” is responsible for the phasing out of 99 percent of ozone-depleting chemicals in refrigerators, air-conditioners, and other consumer products. Since the year 2000, parts of the ozone layer have recovered at a rate of 1-3 percent every ten years. Regenerating the ozone has also helped to reduce the effects of climate change. Approximately 135 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions from 1990 to 2010 were averted by the strong protective ozone shield.
Conclusion
The right time to save the earth is now. Educating yourself about sustainability and environmental issue is the first and most essential step before you do something about it. Did reading some of the above facts trigger the nature lover in you? As the age-old adage goes “Tiny drops make a mighty ocean”, so we might as well start contributing our tiny drops for the survival and sustainability of our beautiful planet. We have only got one planet (for now!), so it’s high time we protect it.