How sustainable am I ?

Firstly lets decipher exactly what is sustainability?
A definition i like to use is as follows "Sustainability is a new way of thinking about an age-old concern: ensuring that our children and grandchildren inherit a tomorrow that is at least as good as today, preferably better." (http://www.gogreenva.org/?/green_glossary) 
And so I think to myself exactly how sustainable am I ?


On the surface if asked this question I'd probably respond by saying "well yes pretty sustainable" referring to the numerous things I feel I recycle, the number of times I walk back up the stairs to turn my light off, or even add another jumper instead of turning on the heating, but then hypocritically I get into my (probably very unenvironmentally friendly) car and drive somewhere that really, when I think to myself, i could have walked to. But how sustainable really is my lifestyle? Well i can think of many positive ways in which i try to be sustainable but then when i think about the negatives they much outweigh  the few positives.


I think my worst attribute when considering my own sustainability is my car. The fact that possibly not a day goes by when i don't use it. However in my defence, i live in a small village where public transport is literally awful and yes cycling is possible- but it would mean getting up at nought o clock to cycle to uni, arriving utterly exhausted and not in a good frame of mind to work, then by the time i get home, it'd be time to leave again and so it goes on!  These are the things that i struggle with, it's not laziness or me being delusional its literally to me just reality. 
I am aware that yes, it would be totally sustainable for me to cycle more or even use public transport, however i feel that unless these procedures are put in place for us to do so and to encourage people to use them then its no wonder most of us give up and get straight back in our cars. If you read Milton Keynes Council's "A world class vision and strategy for Milton Keynes"  It seems the vision  to have "reliable, accessible, integrated and safe network of sustainable transport options" is there, it just needs to be implemented properly to encourage people to use it. According to the Government's Department of Transport's  National Travel Survey 2009 "Between 2006 and 2009, 81% of all long distance trips were made by car."  This is pretty bad, and very much i feel illustrates this idea of cars being convenient and always the "easy option." If you had to travel to somewhere over 10 miles away would you cycle, bus, or car? It's pretty obvious which i'd pick.


I think it would be extremely hard for someone to say they were entirely sustainable. For instance, there would always be a downfall. We can recycle and plant trees until our fingers are literally green, but then we can go home and drink tea that isn't always ethically produced and that has most-likely been shipped halfway across the world before it even gets to sit on a supermarkets shelf- which again is unsustainable, and then how does it get to our cupboards?
 In every aspect of my life i can see ways in which i can be more sustainable.  Consumerism is another key player in this I'm certainly not sustainable when it comes to clothes and material possessions. In the words of my wise and i suppose fairly "old" father he says we live in a throwaway society and a "now" generation. We cannot simply hold on to something it has to be replaced imminently, and the other is simply thrown away. With clothes though i must say they always go to the charity shop, but still this cannot by any means disguise this "throw away" attitude, and giving to charity does not by any way make me feel okay for this, but i suppose at least they aren't going to landfill. In this particular article from the telegraph it is apparent that "textile waste from council tips has risen from 7% to 30%," pretty shocking if i'm honest!! This really brings to light how unsustainable consumerism is and our want and need for the new, the desirable, and the "now". This is suppose links back to our "Western" roots and the societies we live in, can we help it? Im trying!!




On a more positive note when it comes to putting tea bags and fruit peels into compost, and shopping at the village shop i never struggle, or even sorting paper and card into pink bags, but still can i even call this sustainable? London 2012 olympics have basically hit the nail on the head here stating "sustainability' is far more than being 'green'. It's ingrained into our thinking – from the way we plan, build and work, buy, to the way we play, socialise and travel; ultimately everything that we do"  so am i really sustainable? Yes i'd say i do my bit, but really- it's definitely not alot.