Sustainability. The word brings to mind a Zen garden, organic food, recycled paper, riding a bike everywhere, and the infamous slogan, "Go Green". Yes, these things all relate to sustainability in one way or another, but you don't need to become a Zen master or become a hardcore bicyclist to really live a sustainable life!
Becoming a sustainable member of society encompasses everyday small decisions that can easily turn into lifestyle changes (only if you want). Think about it: everything that we use had to come from somewhere, right? Either it came naturally from the earth, or it has been manufactured from a combination of elements that were harvested from our earth somewhere. With an understanding of the concept of sustainability, one will realize that protecting our natural resources is not only important for the earth but also important in maintaining our way of life.
Utah has an amazing outdoor playground, which makes sustainability a prevalent issue in each of our lives. Salt Lake City is rich with parks and other natural sanctuaries and has been getting more sustainable by creating bike lanes, for example, to cut down on pollution. Not only can we take more advantage of the close proximity to these natural play areas, but we can cut down our “carbon footprint” to help preserve them for the future. To calculate your unique carbon footprint, go here and it will be easier for you to find specific areas in which you could live more sustainably.
Remember, living sustainably does not need to be a daunting task, but it does deserve a priority so that future generations can enjoy Utah the way we do today.
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