Help Mitigate Climate Crisis by Sharing More
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Many solutions to our problems are simple but we refuse to do them because they’re not easy or convenient. So we wait for rocket science solutions until the problem is on our faces we have no choice but to move.
Sharing, a wonderful act humanity practiced for many generations until our modern lives got in the way. We became too busy and too disconnected to share. We have friends from miles away on social media yet we hardly know our neighbor’s names.
In her TED talk, entrepreneur Tessa Clarke explains how sharing more and wasting less is an underrated solution to the climate crisis, especially since one-third of all the food we produce globally each year is thrown away. You can watch her TED Talk below:
Re-cultivate a Culture of Sharing
It’s best to buy and get only the amount of food we can consume. But if there is still surplus or foods that are about to spoil which we can’t eat, let’s choose to share instead of waste. Perhaps our neighbors need what we have in excess. We can also donate to jails and shelters. Or we can use our digital hyperconnectivity to good use. Someone near you can use the cereals in your pantry that are near expiry, the baskets of tomatoes you harvested but can’t consume, or the box of cookies they gave but you don’t like.
The fashion industry is the second most water-intensive industry, consuming around 79 billion cubic meters of water annually. With this data, normalizing lending and giving away clothes we don’t wear can be of great help. There should be no shame in borrowing and receiving clothes and other stuff for free.
Specific Ways We Can Nurture a Culture of Sharing
- Ask your circle if they can lend something that will only be used once before buying it.
- Donate unused books and other academic things.
- Check stocks for items that are near expiry and give them away if they can’t be consumed on time.
