Wanting A Better Planet, But Doing Nothing To Achieve This

I am a mainstream human being on this planet, although quite privileged when compared to others. You could call me a basic Western woman, who took everything for granted for quite a while, and is easily disgusted by what does not meet my (too high) standards. My parents never lived in the same luxury my brother and I are living in now. They take great care to remind us to stay grounded and humble, because not everyone has access to such a sanitized life.

I’ve always had access to electricity, clean, running water, gas… But it was only later in life that I realised what luck I had to have access to those, and I also realised that we use much more than what we actually need. Besides, school started to drill into our heads the importance of sustainable development for our own future, and if we cared, those of future generations.

Growing up, I used a lot of water whenever I took a shower, and even though I reduced my consumption in the last few years, I am still guilty of showering for too long. Let’s just say that having access to unlimited hot water in my residence is not helping me to improve my behaviour (nor my skin). 

I did develop a small environmental conscience: I do not litter (this is more common sense, but hey, people are nasty), I try to not use my phone once a week and not charge it overnight and to reduce my electricity consumption. But most important of all, I turn off the lights as soon as I am out of my room. Now, this behaviour became really prominent this year when I started living with complete strangers. It became quite evident that they were less inclined to turn off the lights when, at 5 in the morning, I would find the light in the kitchen still on.

I know I can do better, I have doubts that I ever will, but one thing is sure: my behaviour is far from being sustainable.