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World Environment Day is held on the June 5 every year. The day gives us a chance to think about how we live – and whether it is sustainable or not.

Sustainability means to develop in a way that does not negatively affect future generations. It means thinking about the impacts of our behaviour for the economy, society and environment. This way the maintenance of a section of a road, what you eat or building a houseman all be sustainable – or not.

Sustainability has been practiced for over 30 years. In 1990, His Holiness the Dalai Lama said,“As people alive today, we must consider future generations: a clean environment is a human right like any other. It is […] part of our responsibility […] to ensure that the world we pass on is as healthy, if not healthier, than we found it“.

And it is possible for the economy, society and environment to benefit at the same time, as the following examples show, the articles referred to are all in past issues of Contact magazine:

• • Snow Leopard Conservancy, India Trust (SLC-IT) has installed enclosures to protect domestic animals. Snow leopards will seek wild animal prey instead and villagers will receive a higher income from their sheep and goats. (see Growing snow leopard importance article)
  • Ice Stupas in Ladakh will conserve water from winter to be available in the summer and help villagers with crop irrigation and provide extra income(see Climate change status article).
  • Walking instead of taking a car will be cheaper, slow down climate change and make people healthier (see Climate change status article).
  • Someone giving an experience rather than a gift will reduce material costs, improve the environment and may make people happier (see Reducing waste and material use article).
  • Topsoil protection will usually be of financial benefit and improve the environment by offering a fertile and stable land form. This is especially important for farmers and those impacted by landslips (see Saving our soils article).
  • Banning vehicle horn use in McLeod Ganj, as in Kathmandu,will incur no cost and may raise money from fines, will benefit the noise environment and make the streets more pleasurable for everyone.
  Sometimes two strengths may be offset by a cost which could be financial or the need to apply behavioural change in order for the initiative to be effective. In this case, the overall sustainability strength will be less. For example:
  • The drinking water filtration plants installed by Lha Charitable Trust around Dharamshala have an installation and maintenance cost. They benefit the environment by replacing other potable water supplies and have been shown to increase the health of users (see Improving our water quality article).
  • Reusing or recycling waste has a financial cost. But both will benefit the environment and make people happier and healthier by reducing litter and landfill (see Reducing waste and material use article).
  • Grey water treatment will benefit the environment and will ensure down-stream people have healthier lives. But it also has a financial cost (see Improving our water quality article).

Most of these examples require change at a spiritual, philosophical and behavioural level. For example, the elimination of car horns in Kathmandu was behavioural and could equally apply in McLeod Ganj.

But it might also be necessary to understand the lifecycle – following a product from its raw materials through the production, distribution and consumption to its disposal. These lifecycles apply for food just as much as for this magazine. Inefficiencies at each step or inbetween may be economically costly or have negative impacts on people or the environment.

Waste prevention is especially important as it eliminates the possibility of inefficiencies and asks whether it is really necessary to buy a certain product. Undertaking an eco-footprint analysis will show how sustainable your behaviour is and how to best reduce your footprint.
Because of unsustainable production, use and disposal, plastic is becoming a severe problem worldwide. For this reason, Lha Charitable Trust invites the readers of Contact magazine to write an essay on the topic Beat Plastic Pollution. The texts should be 1,300 to 1,500 words long and written in either Tibetan or English, the deadline is June 5 at 23:59pm. Essays should be sent to office@lhasocialwork.org. The winners will be announced on June 15 and win cash prices of INR 7,000, INR 5,000 and INR 3,000 respectively.

Contests and articles like these raise awareness and show what can be done for the environment. But all of us have a responsibility to think about how sustainable our behavior is – and what can be done to improve it. World Environment Day gives us a great opportunity to do that.