Lifestyle, Sustainable

Sustainable Lifestyle: Meaning, Scope, and Content

A sustainable lifestyle is a way of life that minimizes the use of energy, water, and food, as well as curbs the production of both air and water pollution. It is a lifestyle that reduces the consumption of energy resources, water, and food to a minimum, as well as reducing and recycling waste output. A sustainable lifestyle revolves around, or relies more on, renewable energy resources. Sustainable lifestyles put a heavy emphasis on progressive improvement and advancement in social, economic, and environmental conditions in the present and, more important, in the future. The concept emphasizes improvement in the quality of life of individuals and the defense of the integrity of the ecosystem. The goal of a sustainable lifestyle is to create a minimal ecological footprint and to reuse or convert waste to resources.

Sustainable lifestyles view the well-being of humankind and of the planet as two inseparable spheres and thus posit that lifestyle improvement, as well as developments in social and economic conditions, must or should be pursued not only in an environmentally and ecologically sound manner but also in a way that ensures continual renewal and availability of natural resources for future generations. There are two closely related major dimensions of sustainable lifestyles: environmentally sound social development and environmentally sound economic development.

Environmentally sound socioeconomic development implies, first, the ability of individuals to have access to an income-generating activity to support self and family, and second, the right of societies and nations to pursue industrial development and to participate in the global economy so as to increase national income and achieve economic growth [Page 279]and development. The social and economic well-being of the individual and the society are closely related to the well-being of their immediate environment. Sustainable lifestyles place priority on protecting the Earth, safeguarding natural resources, and conserving biodiversity for future generations. The main objective is to progressively improve the living conditions of humankind while pursuing social and economic developments in an environmentally friendly and ecologically sound manner.

There are three main lifestyles in which sustainability is required: urban, suburban, and rural lifestyles.

The Unsustainability of Urban Lifestyles

The loss of biodiversity; the pollution of air, water, and soil; and the creation of local heat islands are some of the direct effects of the creation and urbanization of cities. As a result of a growing urban population, an increasing demand for housing, food, water, and energy imposes a heavy toll on Earth's resources. The rates of waste generation and associated poor management practices in many places have come to overwhelm the Earth's carrying capacity. In many cities in developing countries, for instance, mountains of refuse are piling up and continue to grow uncontrollably, posing a serious threat to people's health and putting a strain on urban management. The urban dwellers are indeed the greatest consumers, as well as destroyers, of Earth's resources. The pattern of urban production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services leads to a heavy, growing, and insatiable demand for energy—fossil fuels, electricity, and gas. In the urban production process, industries continue to release millions of tons of carbon by burning coal, gas, and oil. In the distribution of goods and services, the transport-dependent urban lifestyles emit more carbon dioxide compared with other sources of carbon emission. The attendant increase in local and global temperature has serious implications on man, living organisms, and indeed, the entire ecosystem.

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