Sustainability and Community

A great limitation to sustainable communities is scale. An individual is able to change their own ways and live more sustainably, but change depends on how they can influence a greater number of people. Since individual in the community are not involved in keys aspects of planning and utility supply, they need to work with what they are given to reduce their ecological footprint and hopefully influence other to follow in their actions.

In this context, community describes a group of people with shared ethnic, cultural or religious views that live in a within a local area. They could reside in the same work place, organization or simply reside in the same area. It may seem ineffective for one person to being a movement towards sustainable living, but it must start somewhere. Community sustainability requires the maintenance of ecological, social and economic processes to preserve natural systems, diversity and human equity.

Reducing our carbon footprint is a great way to start becoming sustainable in your community with regards to ecological processes. You could start riding your bike to work/school, taking the bus or get involved in a ride share program. Using energy efficient light bulbs and installing low flow showerheads or dual flush toilets are a good way of reducing your footprint. Simple things like remembering to turn off lights, or turning down the heat are ways to save energy and are easy to do. Investing in carbon offsets or introducing them into your own home though solar panels is another option but is very costly, but If you have the means, why not?

Often we need encouragement from the people around us to get us motivated to live healthier, more sustainable lives. To obtain and maintain a sustainable community, you need to help and participation of many people; it may be a good idea to start a group to brainstorm ideas on sustainable living. It is necessary to livability and quality of life, without hindering health and well-being.

Issues such as climate change require community involvement to bring about change. Economic diversity, resilience and adaptability all require the support of a community to be upheld in order to drive innovation, lower costs and maintain a competitive edge.

Community involvement is key is planning a sustainable community. Once the area is understood, a plan can be created to maximize the benefits within the carrying capacity of the region. Once a viable plan has been created, it can be implemented. Results are not likely going to happen overnight, but a long-term vision of a reasonable goal can be achieved with perseverance.

Information from this blog was taken from a Sustainable Development Series class, taught my Dr. Ling.