Anandi Sen
In a world with limited resources, we have unlimited wants. Whether it is food, housing, energy or consumer products, we are taking more from the planet than ever before. And we are throwing away a majority of it. The recent IPCC Report states global warming is likely to reach 1.5°C between 2030 an...d 2052, if it continues to increase at the current rate. Now, more than ever, we need to work tirelessly towards Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as laid out by the United Nations. We need to enforce innovative measures to translate SDG 11—Sustainable Cities & Communities; SDG 12—Responsible Consumption & Production; and SDG 13—Climate Action, into reality. Sustainability is not an independent action taken to combat climate change, but a way of life. Sustainability is not just a vital pathway to environmental betterment, but a crucial need of the hour. As a student journalist, I interacted with a local small business based in Mumbai. The brand prides itself on its zero-waste policy, and a chat with the designer and founder shed light on the practicality of sustainability. She said, “When you're creating something, you are using resources, you are impacting the environment some way or the other. It’s not about being sustainable, it’s about being conscious.” The need of the hour is to judicially and rationally use resources whilst being mindful of the consequences of one’s actions and their environmental impact. The youth today understand this. We are reactive and witnesses to the disastrous ramifications of climate change and global warming. There is a growing conscience amongst the youth to make conscious and intelligent choices. A rising sustainable effort is empowering indigenous and local communities through thrifting and small business stores. Facilitated through social media, Instagram is the youth’s hub to find reusable clothes and locally-created businesses. Reused, or pre-loved, as the youth call it, allows thrift stores to save up on finite resources, by reducing the need for manufacturing newer clothes. Several youth-led businesses have adopted green and eco-friendly packaging to reduce plastic production and consumption. Combining local empowerment with resource efficiency, and a sustainable lifestyle allows the youth to prevent pollution, in a chain reaction. Who is to say that this chain reaction cannot change our tomorrow? In a 10,000 sample survey conducted in September 2021, by Avaaz, across 10 countries it has been stated that over 60% of young people were worried about the future. Another survey states, the youth today, is burdened with eco-anxiety or climate anxiety. Despite their limited resources, their will to change their future is not limited. They are bringing change, however small in their capacities, and social media remains the biggest platform to mobilize it. From ditching the plastic straw at Starbucks to switching to ethically and locally created clothes, slow but steady changes by the youth can surely create a future where sustainability is the norm, and climate change a thing of the past.
