Write a commentWhen working to live a more sustainable lifestyle and make greener choices, it is easy to become confused and overwhelmed. However, when it comes to sustainability, small changes, invested in over a long period of time, can have a dramatic effect on reducing environmental impact, according to Michelle Grandy, the communications director of Sustainable Connections.
Sustainable Connections is a business, based in Bellingham, Washington, that works with local businesses and community members to find ways to lessen the impact the city makes on the environment and find ways to make the city more sustainable.
Since being founded in 2002, Sustainable Connections has pushed Bellingham to the forefront of the sustainability movement, and it has developed programs that can be easily translated to other cities wishing to become more sustainable.
When choosing to live a more sustainable lifestyle or operate a business in a way that lessens its impact on the environment, it is important to understand what exactly that switch entails.
According to Grandy, sustainability encompasses a lot more than just environmental impact.
“Sustainability means finding a way to operate and live that lessens the impact we make on the earth and also on our community,” Grandy said. “Being more sustainable ensures longer-term success.”
In order to achieve the long-term success, it is not always necessary to make large changes. Grandy emphasizes the importance of looking at smaller aspects of a business and making small changes.
“Sometimes it feels overwhelming because it feels like we’re faced with a lot of choices, and there are a lot of adverse effects to the things we do in our everyday life,” she said. “Instead of being overwhelmed by that, choosing small changes is awesome.”
On the basic level, it is important to start by simply paying attention to when and how energy is consumed and working to reduce the amount of energy used can have an effect. This can be as simple as turning off the lights when they are not in use and adjusting the thermostat.
“If we aren’t smart about how we use our energy, we’ll mess up our atmosphere,” Grandy said. “Sustainability is a term that can be applied to very small actions or very big ideas.”
For those wishing to make those greater ideas, an assessment of a building can be done to determine which upgrades would be most effective.
“Sometimes that is a thing like upgrading heating systems,” Grandy said. “That can be as simple as upgrading thermostats to ones that are programmable so they don’t run all night and will turn off when people aren’t there and turn back on in the morning when people show up. You can put aerators on your faucets to slow the flow of water and then that slows the consumption of hot water so that saves energy as well.”
While living more sustainable has a positive impact on energy use, the environment and health, it will also impact savings in a positive way.
“On a business level, the really great thing about taking sustainable actions to be more sustainable in your business and your everyday activities in that business is it actually saves the business owner money,” Grandy said. “You can also save money while you’re doing it. Often that is what motivates a lot of people to start down that path.”
Grandy urges everyone to examine his or her life and determine what small changes can be made today in order to start building towards a more sustainable and secure future.
“We’re all on this path towards greater sustainability, and no matter where you are on that path; you can find something to do that makes a difference,” she said. “There’s no vision of what perfect sustainability looks like or the perfect things you can do. Just try to make small changes, and over time they add up for greater change.”
