vesterberg.se

We talk a lot at home about the future, the climate and our responsibility for the earth. My children at home (13 and 15) challenge me: “what do you do for our future”. As parents we like to put savings in the bank for the future for our children, but establishing a lifestyle that is sustainable is like that, investing in the future of our children. What the world will look like when they are in their forties depends on me now.

What do we mean when we say sustainable? We mean meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. The problem is: we consume too much or in the wrong way. What nature has developed and stored during hundreds or thousands of years, we consume in a twinkling of an eye. The oil in the earth we soon have emptied and the rainforests we cut down to give place for short-term cultivation. A tree that has grown for forty years is used for a newspaper that is read for ten minutes and then thrown away.

We discuss at home and try to learn how to establish a sustainable lifestyle. We take a step at a time and try to change our habits, choosing alternative products. It could be easy to think that our small contribution doesn’t count or that we don’t have time, strength or money to change. But if we do not make the change who will? We need practical and sound advice. We as consumers need to get together and put pressure on the producers that we are serious in this. We need to catch the vision and begin to work on it!

In Sweden there is a growing interest and consciousness among consumers, especially young people. There are some magazines like Camino and blogs like CSR i praktiken that discusses these things. CSR i praktiken (sorry, in Swedish only) is interesting because it gives practical examples of how companies in Sweden are beginning to take responsibility for their products and services. Something at least is happening. If you know of a similar blog in English, please let me know.