Université Libre de Bruxelles / Biology
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I am concerned that climate change is currently receiving much more attention than other dimensions of human impacts on the environment. The accumulation of organic and mineral pollutants in soil, water and atmosphere poses a threat to the future of humanity as serious as climate. All dimensions are linked and should be considered together.
The collective inertia and lack of political will are really frightening.
Personally, I am gradually changing my lifestyle as follows.
Concerning food, we
- prefer bulk food stores to supermarkets, more and more often;
- favour organic vegetables to encourage newly established producers;
- consume seasonal fruits and vegetables and avoid foods from far away;
- try to eat less meat.
At home, we have installed photovoltaic panels and we are now self-sufficient for electricity.
We recycle all our organic waste by composting it in the garden.
For short trips in the city, I started using the bike instead of the car.
As long as stakeholders encourage the development of airports and welcome the increase in air traffic, road transport and the automotive industry, nothing will change.
We must admit that the way of life that we in developed countries have adopted over the past 50 years is simply suicidal.
One of the major challenges is to ensure equitable access to a decent life for all human beings, which will inevitably imply a decrease in resource use by people living in developed countries.
The word “progress” must be given a new meaning. Progress has been reduced to a narrow sense of “technological progress”. Other dimensions must be integrated, including ethical and sociological. This, I think is the real challenge.
Originally posted 2018-06-17 04:12:43.