My goals/mission with this platform
SUSTAINABILITY MADE EASY
Hi, I’m Emma, the creator of The Simple Environmentalist. I created this channel/website/Instagram to inspire people.
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You can learn about my full environmentalism/zero waste journey here. But, in short, I had fixed the end problem of picking up litter and starting recycling programs, but moving to Okinawa (a tiny island in the Pacific Ocean) made me realize we need to fix the early stages first: consumption. If we consumed less, we wouldn’t have to worry about recycling properly!
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That’s when my website and channel were born. It was born out of me doing insane amounts of research but wanting to share it with the world. Why should the knowledge just stop at me, I thought, I need to share it! It’s taken a long time. I started this channel over a year ago and didn’t even hit 100 subscribers until April 2020. It’s taken 12 months to gain 900 subscribers and I want to thank you all for joining me on my journey to living more sustainably as I teach you about living more sustainably.
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My goal is to not just stop with my internet presence, though, but eventually get more involved with my community by setting up community gardens, compost sites, and help communities to become more sustainable (see the Future of TSE below).
What is Practical Sustainability?
Practical sustainability is living a more environmentally sustainable lifestyle day by day by making small and easy changes that help you and help the earth
It is a term I coined myself as inspiration to others to prove that you don't have to change your entire life to live more sustainably. I want to prove that zero waste, low waste, sustainable living doesn't have to be hard or expensive or boring, but rather it CAN be fun and cheap (or free) and fun for nearly everyone.
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That’s why I chose the name The Simple Environmentalist. From day one, I wanted to be the Practical Environmentalist. But, that’s a bit of a mouthful. So, here we are. Anyone can be an environmentalist. I have no formal education yet (foreshadowing) in environmental science. All it means to be an environmentalist is someone who cares about the planet and preserving it. That’s why I chose this name. Practical sustainability plus the notion that anyone can be an environmentalist equals, The Simple Environmentalist.
The future of The Simple Environmentalist
SUSTAINABILITY MADE EASY
I plan on still releasing two videos through June or so when we will be leaving Japan, but around then, Dan and I will be picking up more content for our adventure channel as well as I will be starting my Master's Program in Resilient and Sustainable Communities in the fall. I will definitely have to cut back my content creation for this platform, which I don't want to, but for now, I have to.
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One day, I want content creation/helping communities to become more sustainable to become my full-time job. So, moving forward, I want to really kick it into gear about practical ways we can fight climate change and live in a practically sustainable society, which is pretty much what my major is going to be about. I can’t wait to implement my studies into the real world and into this channel and hopefully inspire you all to make big actions around your neighborhoods.
The future of for you all
Educate yourselves and spread the message
But, just like I said at the beginning, this information can’t stop with me, so i’m educating you, I hope you feel the same. I hope that you feel this information shouldn’t just stop with you. Share my videos, share others videos, talk about these topics in class and at work and at dinner, start your own activist Instagram or YouTube channel. Because the reality of things is, a lot of people do care, but we need more people to care.
One of my favorite quotes is “you don’t need 100 people doing zero waste perfectly, we need everyone doing it imperfectly.” It inspired my outro quote of “your small changes have a big impact in the long run” meaning that yes, choosing to eat one vegan meal a week sounds meaningless but look at that on a scale of a year. That’s 52 meals a year! Going vegan for just 30 days would save 620 pounds of CO2, 913 sq feet of forets, and over 33,000 gallons of water. Just one person for 30 days. So, to put that quote into perspective, think of just 100 perfect vegans. Yeah, they’d save a lot in terms of the environment, but think instead about 1 million imperfect vegans!
Avoid the labels if you must. Don’t label yourself vegan or zero waste or sustainable or minimal. Do what you can on a day to day basis, even something as small as turning off the lights when you’re not using them can save a lot in the long run. Your small changes truly have a big impact in the long run :)
Emma