Sustainability Theory

How my Unique Past affects my Vision of the future and the way I Choose to Live

After examining my past, I realized that I used to live an irresponsible life. For instance, I would dump plastic bags along the road, and cut trees meant to provide shade and cool air. Instead of using bicycle, I would sometimes travel across the city with my motorbike. Although I believed that climate change exists, I still felt that the issue was being exaggerated. However, after undertaking careful deliberations of the world around me, and the likely future implications of my behavior, I had to consider ways of creating sustainable and lifelong commitments to protect my life and of the people around me.

After five years, it became clearer that opting forma responsible life required me to change almost all aspects of my life. These include changing the ways in which I spent my days. It meant shifting my way of life from consumption and inclining towards more sustainable initiatives such as using bicycle as a means of transport, and working with other community members in collaborative ways to safeguard my immediate environment. To avoid a culture of consumption and wastage, I resorted to sharing tools, and ridesharing. In addition, I became a more self-reliant individual, since I gained more insights into how best I would repair my personal belongings without having to hire someone. These included growing my own food in a small garden and pursuing capacity building classes.

Further, I changed my leisure life by shifting entertainment and refreshment to minimal impact programs like taking time in the natural world and reading kindle versions of books. Currently, I am exploring how best I can downshift my lifestyle form a higher paying job towards responsibilities that earn less but have more sustainable and beneficial effects on my community and the world. I believe that my primary goal is one that is intrinsically rewarding. Therefore, I usually derive more contentment and pleasure from their pursuit. In my view, the sustained pursuit of initiatives that I value generates more happiness, with its capacity to provide a package of positive events and regular boosting of happy mood. I also hold the view that when individuals seek to transform their lives and circumstances, they can effectively work towards the realization of their dreams and aspirations.

Human Values and Sustainability

There are various ways in which human values come into play when issues related to sustainability are discussed. The values that individuals have are the most significant indicators in determining whether they support sustainable development (Nová??ek, 2013). In the same vein, value orientations are most likely to shift over a long period of time. For instance, the values of the western society such as Europe and America often emerge from the heritage of Judaism and Christianity. These values regard fundamental ethical importance in the Ten Commandments. Based on these principles, western societies commonly develop what is good and accepted in terms of responding to environmental challenges and sustainability concerns related to genetic engineering, experimentations, and pollution of the environment (Nová??ek, 2013). Further, these societies are guided by Christian principles that discourage amassing of excessive wealth and instead promoting redistribution of resources. Human values may influence sustainability, especially in relation to values that propose that everything that is of importance to human life, such as food and nature, must come from the earth, but not beyond self-sufficiency. Beyond meeting necessities through personal relationships, the concept of sustainability is also reliant on an impersonal level of economy.

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