From small gestures to a new sustainable culture

Message from Princess Esméralda of Belgium: Commit to the climate!

The path from our small gestures to the culture change for sustainability explained in 7 steps

1. Our actions in favor of a more sustainable way of life have many positive impacts for us: for our well-being (for example, preferring the bicycle to the car allows us to exercise and to get out of the daily rush locked in a car), for our health (for example, eating organic food reduces the risk of ingesting chemical products), for our savings (for example, reducing our consumption of fossil fuels for heating reduces our energy bill)
   
   Little by little, these changes in our habits lead us to a new way of life and a personal transformation (new relationships to ourselves, to our time, to our relationship to our local community and to nature).
2. Our actions in favor of a more sustainable lifestyle have positive impacts for our environment, whether it is in favor of the climate (by reducing our greenhouse gas emissions) and/or in favor of the protection or restoration of biodiversity (for example, favoring the circular economy by sorting our waste better, recycling it,...)
3. Our individual actions are visible and generate conversations. They influence those around us (friends, family, colleagues, neighbors,...). By the phenomenon of social imitation, our close relations are dragged along this new path. The society is thus transformed little by little.
4. The cumulative actions of citizens increase the positive impact for the climate and biodiversity.
5. The change of sustainable culture that is taking place in our society gives strong signals to companies and politicians who are encouraged to amplify the movement.
6. The actions of companies and politicians multiply the positive impacts for our environment and our society.
   For example, companies can work towards a circular economy, conduct life cycle analysis of their products, immediately reduce the use of toxic products, internalize environmental and social costs in the price of their products and services,...
   Similarly, policies can put in place regulations (for example, banning the marketing of single-use plastics), financial incentives, support for education in sustainable development, etc.
7. Finally, the evolution of our society's culture towards sustainability influences us daily! Moreover, western culture is the dominant cultural model worldwide (abundantly diffused through movies, series, music, influencers on social networks, advertising,...). Therefore, its evolution towards sustainability has positive repercussions on a global scale.

This vision is inspired in particular by the following article:

Amel et al. 2017. Beyond the roots of human inaction: Fostering collective effort toward ecosystem conservation. Science 356, 275-279.