Like âinfluencerâ and âathleisure,â the word âsustainableâ has become a daily presence in our lives. "Sustainability" is used to talk about agriculture, and how we grow our food with less chemicals. "Sustainable products" is used to talk about fashion, and how we make our clothes with less waste. Itâs even used to talk about travel, and how we can engage our world without harming it when we visit. But as everything from tequila to music festivals says itâs âsustainable,â what actually is?
âWhen we talk about sustainability, weâre actually talking about 2 different things,â says Joyce Wang, the Vice President of Sustainability and Impact at Wild Elements. (Joyce Wang was also the Director of Conservation Partnerships for the Wildlife Conservation Network. She has 2 masterâs degreesâone in environmental management from Duke and one in law from UPenn, where she was managing editor of an animal ethics law journal. In other words, Joyce Wang is f*cking legit.)Â
âFirst, thereâs sustainable cultivation. Sustainable cultivation is when things are grown in a way that strengthens the environment, instead of wrecking it. Sustainable cultivation is a major force for good in the world of agriculture, and it helps keep our water supply, our soil, and our food healthy.â
Then thereâs the other, more literal kind of sustainable, which means âkeeping things as they are, and preventing our actions and products from doing further harm to the earth.â And listen, thatâs great. Of course we want to stop doing harm to the earth! But âkeeping things as they areâ isnât the best that we can do. And in that context, sustainability is just a hamster wheel that keeps us running in place, anxious at whatâs in front of us, and working so hard just to stay still.
But when it comes to planetary and personal wellness, we donât want to just run in place, and we canât afford to âjustâ keep the earth the way it is. We want to leave our planet even better, more radiant, and more alive than we found it. Thatâs why âsustainabilityâ is step one. Step two is regeneration.
âRegeneration is the process of renewal and growth within nature,â says Joyce. âFor example, regeneration can be apple cores decomposing into soil and feeding nutrients back into new apple treesâor any other trees. âCircularityâ is a big buzzword these days â but natureâs processes have been circular since the beginning of time.â Â
Regeneration doesnât keep things the sameâit creates a cycle of rebirth that makes the planet and all living things more resilient. Regeneration promotes biodiversity by giving every piece of the ecosystem the fuel and function needed to flourish. And regeneration is what weâre really aiming for when it comes to changing the world, and changing ourselves, for the better.
Meanwhile, you can tell something is sustainable by answering these questions:Â
- Does this thing require significant fossil fuels or other natural resources that canât be replaced?Â
- Was this thing created without harming anyoneâs health or quality of life?Â
- Does this thing have a life cycle beyond one single use?Â
You can also take a deep breath and realize that almost everything made or cultivated by people has some amount of impact on the environment, which means nothing can be 100% sustainableâand thatâs okay. Whatâs important is taking small steps whenever we can to encourage regeneration, and leave the planet better than we found it, whether that means buying thrifted jeans instead of new ones, eating local produce that supports small farms, or swapping the plastic wrap in our kitchens with reusable wax paper. (You can get more tips for plugging back into the planet with our weekly newsletter.)
Because look, weâre not here to be perfect; weâre here to be human⌠which is, when you think about it, the most natural thing of all.