Sustainable living

One conception of sustainable living expresses what it means in triple-bottom-line terms as meeting present ecological, societal, and economical needs without compromising these factors for future generations.

[12] Derrick Jensen ("the poet-philosopher of the ecological movement"), a celebrated American author, radical environmentalist and prominent critic of mainstream environmentalism argues that "industrial civilization is not and can never be sustainable".

Often, if necessary, they are close in proximity to essential services such as grocery stores, schools, daycares, work, or public transit making it possible to commit to sustainable transportation choices.

Mayor de Blasio also announced a lawsuit by the city (of New York) to five major oil companies due to their harm on the environment and climate pollution.

[29] This also raises the question of the possible closing of the 24 oil and gas burning power plants in New York City, due to the aimed declining use of these sources of energy.

It is a coating on windowpanes of a thin, transparent layer of metal oxide and works by reflecting heat back to its source, keeping the interior warm during the winter and cool during the summer.

For those that do, its consumers typically buy a fixed amount or a percentage of their monthly consumption from a company of their choice and the bought green energy is fed into the entire national grid.

Solar power via photo-voltaic cells are usually the most expensive method to harnessing renewable energy, but is falling in price as technology advances and public interest increases.

It has the advantages of being portable, easy to use on an individual basis, readily available for government grants and incentives, and being flexible regarding location (though it is most efficient when used in hot, arid areas since they tend to be the most sunny).

Wind turbines have been criticized for the noise they produce, their appearance, and the argument that they can affect the migratory patterns of birds (their blades obstruct passage in the sky).

Wind turbines are much more feasible for those living in rural areas[43] and are one of the most cost-effective forms of renewable energy per kilowatt, approaching the cost of fossil fuels, and have quick paybacks.

On an individual household basis, single turbines are the probably the only economically feasible route (but can have high paybacks and is one of the most efficient methods of renewable energy production).

There do exist small individual scale geothermal operations, however, which harness reservoirs very close to the Earth's surface, avoiding the need for extensive drilling and sometimes even taking advantage of lakes or ponds where there is already a depression.

Places such as the Philippines, Hawaii, Alaska, Iceland, California, and Nevada have geothermal reservoirs closer to the Earth's surface, making its production cost-effective.

Industrial agriculture systems typically require heavy irrigation, extensive pesticide and fertilizer application, intensive tillage, concentrated monoculture production, and other continual inputs.

Substantial climate-disrupting carbon emissions, boosted by the transport of food over long distances, are of growing concern as the world faces such global crisis as natural resource depletion, peak oil and climate change.

[52] Adapting a more regional, seasonally based diet is more sustainable as it entails purchasing less energy and resource demanding produce that naturally grow within a local area and require no long-distance transport.

A CSA consists of a community of growers and consumers who pledge to support a farming operation while equally sharing the risks and benefits of food production.

CSA's usually involve a system of weekly pick-ups of locally farmed vegetables and fruits, sometimes including dairy products, meat and special food items such as baked goods.

[51] Industrial meat production also involves high environmental costs such as land degradation, soil erosion and depletion of natural resources, especially pertaining to water and food.

For instance, vegetables and fruits raised within small-scale gardens and farms are not grown with tremendous applications of nitrogen fertilizer required for industrial agricultural operations.

Such sustainable, organic farming techniques include: composting, biological pest control, crop rotation, mulching, drip irrigation, nutrient cycling and permaculture.

With rising concerns over non-renewable energy source usage and climate change caused by carbon emissions, the phase-out of fossil fuel vehicles is becoming more and more important to the conversation of sustainability.

[65] Bike-sharing programs offer kiosks and docking stations that supply hundreds to thousands of bikes for rental throughout a city through small deposits or affordable memberships.

In addition to providing valuable fertilizer, these toilets are highly sustainable because they save sewage collection and treatment, as well as lessen agricultural costs and improve topsoil.

This can be facilitated when the plumbing or showerhead allow turning off the water without disrupting the desired temperature setting (common in the UK but not the United States).

Drip-irrigation systems employ small gaps at standard distances in a hose, leading to the slow trickle of water droplets which percolate the soil over a protracted period.

A layer of organic material added to the soil helps to increase its absorption and water retention; previously planted areas can be covered with compost.

Additionally, using stored rainwater reduces the amount of runoff pollution, picked up from roofs and pavements that would normally enter streams through storm drains.

[92] Provision, supply/availability, product development/success/price, comparative benefits as well as incentives, purposes/demands and effects of expenditure-choices are part of or embedded in the human neuro-socioeconomic system and therefore overall largely beyond the control of an individual seeking to make rational and ethical choices within it even if all relevant life-cycle assessment/product and manufacturing information was available to this consumer.