I am excited about trying new techniques to mend my clothing, in both invisible and visible ways. What remains to be seen is how welcome some of the results will be in professional settings. Even as a sustainability professional, I don’t often see colleagues wearing mended clothing, and I wonder if that is an intentional choice or the symptom of a pervasive business norm.
Most of our clothes today are made with plastic, which tends to be cheaper than natural materials but leads to pollution, climate change, negative health impacts, and more money spent in the long run compared to investing in quality garments and maintaining them. Unfortunately, many of us lack the necessary money, time, or requisite skills to opt for the more sustainable option.
The end of this series is not the end of this exploration. Looking into the historical influences of religion on cuisine has made me more curious about what modern influences shape the choices we make today in an increasingly global society. It also feels, to me, that in an increasingly chaotic world, the small decisions we make for ourselves are even more important.
The world’s oldest monotheistic religion, Zoroastrianism, influenced the others we’ve already covered in this series: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. However, with more of a focus on ethical behavior than prescribed actions, the guidelines of this ancient religion leave a lot of room for interpretation. “Everything in moderation” and religious tolerance went hand in hand with centuries of peace and prosperity in the Persian Empire.
Just about one century ago, airships were rising to prominence as the luxury option for long-haul travel. Today, some companies are touting airships as a climate-friendly alternative to airplanes. We may be set to see a renaissance for this slower, more intentional means of travel, but we also need to consider unseen and upstream costs that can still contribute significantly to its carbon footprint.
Is it possible to reduce our resource consumption without abandoning a certain quality of life? The 2000 Watt Society thinks so. I first encountered this group in a near-term climate fiction novel following the lives of people trying to avoid the worst of climate change impacts. A recent trip to Switzerland showed me it can be done better than we’re doing it back home.
I’m a sucker for marketing gimmicks, especially when they involve sustainability, which is why a new line of wool garments caught my eye. Wool is making a resurgence among outdoorsy and travel-minded communities, and it aligns nicely with principles of environmental conservation. This natural fiber is lightweight, durable, insulating, and doesn’t hold onto odors the way plastic-based performance fabric alternatives do.
There are clear benefits to organic gardening, but are there situations in which an organic solution can do more harm than the chemical alternative? As much as I hate to say it, there may be some grey area when it comes to the best course of action for eradicating my tenacious thistle. I found a safer alternative to glyphosate, though safer doesn’t mean safe.
We use AI for countless tasks in our daily lives, but different activities have different carbon footprints. Analyzing and creating content uses a lot more energy than a simple internet search, and we’re relying on AI for more of that over time. That isn’t good for our brains or the environment, especially since we’re building more fossil fuel-powered data centers to meet growing demand.
You can get more done with efficiency – to a point. Unfortunately, many of us believe multitasking is efficient, even though it usually makes us even less productive in the end. Multitasking can reduce our effectiveness as well as our capacity for critical thought, meaning that the real key to success is identifying critical tasks and prioritizing them, rather than trying to do it all.