Together for sustainable communities
Sustainability
GreenTin is built on the idea of sustainability.
Our first reaction when we hear “sustainability” is to think about nature. To question ourselves what can we do to reduce the rhythm of climate change and global warming and to preserve the natural conditions and wildlife on the long term? But there is much more to sustainability than just thinking about the nature.
As we understand it, sustainability has three areas: environment, social and economic. To help build a sustainable community, we need to cover these three areas, on the long term. To do this means to use the natural, human and financial resources to meet the current needs of the people.
Environment
Environment is a general term we use to describe everything that surrounds us, from natural world (plants, animals, geographical areas, climate, land, water, air) to human living conditions (housing, general living and eating habits, how we consume the resources and the waste we produce).
For a sustainable environment, it is not enough to have one or repeated activities to clean the nature from human garbage, nor only to campaign for awareness. We believe that a sustainable environment comes with changes in how we think about ourselves as part of the ecosystem. From choosing the materials we use to build our houses and household items and make our clothes, to being aware of what kind of food we eat, how we produce and preserve it, to being constantly aware of how every action we have impacts the surroundings.
Social
Everything is connected to the communities where we live. Therefore, we need to educate ourselves about the choices we make and what impact they have not only on the present, but also on the future. To have sustainable community, we need to challenge and change the way we think about the resources and to learn to identify our true needs. Human body needs nature, light, movement, quality food, rest and human connections. Which is exactly the opposite of the “fast” world we live in, where food hat to be quick, rest is scarce, the light we are exposed to is mostly artificial, the body movement is not enough and the human connections are superficial. As communities, we lack basic social skills such as communication, empathy, negotiation, acceptance of others. We believe that for a sustainable community, we need to re-learn all these and use them in our every day.
Economic
From micro to macro-level, all the decisions we take have a financial impact. A sustainable community must learn how to use their resources efficiently to provide for the needs of its members.
Our contribution
Our purpose is to support local communities in our target area to develop in a healthy, sustainable way. This is a long term plan, the involves working with young people, adults and local stake- holders to educate, to widen perspectives and create opportunities for the community members to develop both at personal and professional level.
We do this through volunteering and interaction with different cultures. This gives members of the community the opportunity to meet people they wouldn`t normally meet, have conversation on topics they wouldn`t usually discuss. This creates a setting that allows community members to build a positive, more complex image of the world, make new friends and see the world as a friendlier, more accessible place.
For us, sustainability means constant work with the communities to connect to the rest of the world, reconnect with self, community and nature.
Article by GreenTin