Small Steps to a Sustainable Transition
Authored & Narrated by Stephanie Kusemann | Illustrated by Oğuz Yılmazlar | Edited & Published by Lee Vallance
I. Reasons
The current situation was and is still tough for many of us facing a broad diversity of different circumstances, starting from settling into your home office, the loss of your job, or the general uncertainty of the current situation. Whatever situation you are facing right now, it is time to make even a small change to have a positive impact!
Despite the current challenges, the long-term challenges should not be lost out of sight.
We should not forget that we still have only ten years to fulfil and support the Sustainable Development Goals. So, let us start today with some easy and small steps to support Goal No. 12: “Sustainable Consumption and Production”.
The idea for this article came to my mind because of the current transition, which is still ongoing, and an online presentation I did for my alumni community. It will give some inspiration and show that making a transition is easy. I would like to give you a starting point in a room you use many times per day. Let us start with your bathroom.
I will provide you with an approach on how to live more sustainably and implement sustainable consumption, fast and easy ideas in your daily lives that worked for me. You will soon see that using them will also present you with a healthy lifestyle and the satisfaction of protecting the environment while acting sustainably.
II. Criteria: Materials & Resources
Let us have a closer look at materials and resources that are important within your transformation.
a) Time is a scarce resource, but with small steps, you will realize that not every change will need a lot of it. Whenever you need to buy something new, replace, for example, a plastic toothbrush with one made of bamboo. What kind of electricity do you use? Maybe you should change to a sustainable power supply. These actions will not take much time, but they will have a big effect, as every little step counts. Other changes will consume more time to try, but that depends on your preferences, as you will see later.
b) Materials
Plastic | Problems
• Harmful to the environment
• Problematic decomposition, which varies from decades to several hundred years
• Threatening to marine life
• Pollutes the oceans
• Microplastics are a threat to human health as well (1) (2)
Plastic | Solutions
• Recycle, reuse, and curb the usage of plastic (based on environmental and health risks of microplastic pollution) (3)
• Avoid single-use products
• Use natural cosmetics whenever possible
• If you want to become a pro, create natural cosmetics
• Stay up-to-date and follow current research advice
• Use alternative material; for example, bamboo or wood, which are both biodegradable
Palm Oil | Problems
• Cheap oil that is used in daily care products and food
• Monoculture is a threat to the environment and biodiversity
• Indonesia and Malaysia are the biggest exporting countries:
• Land use for plantations = less natural habitat for wildlife (4)
Palm Oil | Solutions
• Try to avoid palm oil
• Find products with RSPO-certification, which is at least a start for sustainable palm oil production
• Try to find alternatives; such as Shea butter, bee wax, or olive oil
Hormonally Active Chemicals | Problems
• Chemicals that influence your hormone system (5)
• Declared a global threat in 2013 by WHO
• Not only a single chemical causing disease but a cocktail of chemicals
• Diseases:
Adults: Breast and testicular cancer
Children: Early puberty (6)
Hormonally Active Chemicals | Solutions
• Use mobile apps to check the products: Think Dirty (EN) / ToxFox (DE)
• In general, natural cosmetics do not use these chemicals
• Learn how to make cosmetics
III) Easy Steps to Start
There are many more details you can focus on, but let us keep it simple. If you would like to try, here are small steps that you can do right now. Change your habits daily and implement everything step by step.
IV) Impact
My results after starting this journey are surprisingly positive because their implementation was surprisingly fast and easy.
Furthermore, I have been suffering less from skin irritations since using natural cosmetics, making me feel more comfortable. I also use less plastic, because I use more bamboo and wood, and I use showering soap and shampoo without any plastic wrapping.
It will take you some time to find the right products, as it did for me, but in the end, you will realize that doing something for the environment is doing something good for yourself.
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