Sustainability

by Lead Consultant, Haf Roberts

I was appointed Sustainability Leader with Lafan in September last year and since then, I have been tackling this complex topic and how it applies to all of us these days.

But what is sustainability you say? It is a word that is often used - overused in my opinion, and it is seen alongside a reference to the environment as well. The essence of sustainability is that it considers social and economic aspects of any subject, as well as the environment. It therefore discusses everything from living costs and the economy, for example, to equality, fair trade and various environmental topics such as pollution, energy and biodiversity. It encompasses everything, which is why it is so difficult to define and tackle.

Do you know? The Welsh Government's Well-being of Future Generations Act embodies the principles of sustainable development and sets an important precedent for us as a nation.

During these troubled days, there is more talk than usual about sustainability among a large number of contemporary 'problems': living costs, energy costs, climate change and the loss of species and habitats. There is not much good news - but the international demand for action on climate change is getting higher and higher, if not yet in firm control. Topics such as energy efficiency and isolation came to be associated with the move to net zero and moving to a low carbon and carbon free economy.

Another idea that has become common over the years is the carbon footprint, which is a measure of the amount of influence our way of life has on the environment by measuring carbon (or carbon dioxide, to be precise) as this along with methane, is one of the greenhouse gases that has the greatest effect on global warming. It is a process that requires looking at our purchase from the cradle to the grave, so to speak, and choosing more carefully what we buy and eat.

Many misconceptions are aired due to the technical nature of much of the information presented: there is a tendency to simplify or exaggerate in the newspapers, especially by social media which can misinterpret facts. On the one hand, there is a faction that denies the existence of climate change, and on the other hand there is Greta Thunberg and her followers.

As I present some of these ideas, new ones pop up all the time. One of the latest is the Circular Economy, which is a way of looking at our current economy as a cycle, instead of a single throughput line, and therefore simulating the cycles of nature. By doing this we try to make better use of scarce resources and reduce waste, instead of planning disposable tools and products. Things have started to move in this direction as people refuse to use single-use plastic, and start using the popular Repair Cafes that are starting to appear everywhere. Saving money may sometimes be the motivation, but if the process raises awareness of the existence of unnecessary waste, it is worth maintaining and promoting it.

One of my main interests is how to reduce our dependence on energy in the home and also by choosing building materials that are more effective in terms of energy, and less harmful to the environment. I will discuss this, and describe the effort to reduce Lafan's footprint as a business, in a future column.