Sustainability in a nutshell means confronting my overconsumption; at 7 AM when I’m taking a shower and realize that I have far exceeded the 5-minute hourglass timer, at noon when instead of filling up my water bottle I latch onto my fourth Aquafina, before bed when I charge my phone knowing that it does not need to be charged all night. As I work on continuously growing and continuously developing, I’m learning that some of my most ingrained and reflexive habits are unsustainable—this creates an obvious cognitive dissonance (my actions are inconsistent with my beliefs). To my distaste, I am embarrassingly materialistic, I love easy solutions, and I want things as long as they are immediate—and this is a part of my core identity. My habits are a contradiction to who I want to be, and living in an Eco Friendly Cottage has made it all the more apparent.
But more importantly, it makes me want to change into a person I know I can be. This does not mean I have dematerialized, it simply means that I am thinking more so in terms of everything around me rather than what’s best for me.
My want to change has further played an effect on my overall thinking process. As someone who has been studying human-centered design, I have become much more aware of how often my intentions to make the world a better place are contradicted with my own behavior. Human-centered design runs parallel with environment-centered design. Human centered design and creation now, to me, means not only building products that are shaped around the behavior of humans but it also means to making sure these products also affect the environment in a positive way. It means creating and designing products that don’t compromise the future, our future.
My want to change has made me confront and critically analyze the things I don’t like about myself. We are a generation that has the power to put an end to poverty; we are also a generation that’s taking the wrong steps that will negatively impact the climate.
So my overconsumption has been acknowledged; to change the future, we must first change ourselves. Sustainability begins from within, and then expands outwards. If this means quicker showers, and refilling my water bottles—then, I think we can all take a step towards a more sustainable lifestyle.
-Juhee Bhatt
09/29/2016