Director
True sustainability is not about buying our way to a greener future but about making conscious choices that limit waste, preserve resources, and prioritise need over want.
What has become increasingly concerning in today’s world is how companies, corporations and politicians have ‘twisted’ the notion of sustainability and turned it into something that can be purchased. Attaching carbon credits and green star ratings to the purchase of goods and the construction of buildings is at its very essence encouraging unsustainable practice by supporting increased development.
Masking consumerism with positive environmental impacts can make us all feel a little better about the choices we are making as we are lulled into a false sense of belief that we are doing something positive. The big kicker in all of this though is that where most development occurs, a building has normally been demolished (whether fully or substantially) to make way for it. While the choices for the new parts of the building can be made more wisely, it’s the increasing waste through demolition that makes this very process completely, no matter which way we try and mask it, unsustainable.
To add to this problem, our world is continually adapting a growing lust for excess when it comes to housing. This comes in the form of building size, the elaborate use of building materials and the overspecification of luxury features and gadgets that are far from essential. In a world where housing is scarce and material resources are dwindling, we should be looking at ways to limit consumerism, live more efficiently and most importantly – limit our waste. Instead of prioritising size alone, attitudes may eventually need to shift to a more personalised approach which is driven by need rather than want.
Before delving into this topic any deeper, let’s take a moment to assess what the word ‘sustainability’ actually means. Like many words and concepts, the definition can vary depending on source and context, however at its very heart it means ‘the ability to maintain or support a process over time.’ Sustainabiltiy is often divided into three pillars – social, economic and environmental. This means that in order to be sustainable, we as a society should be able to maintain equitable and practical housing needs for our people, that are affordable and don’t unnecessarily deplete our earth’s resources. In Australia today, our living conditions are in fact taking a turn in the opposite direction. We are living in a time where the provision of housing is as unsustainable as it has ever been.
There would be many theories about what causes this, but one thing that is often overlooked is that of unnecessary waste. Waste can come in two forms – through excessive demolition and excessive building. Renovation projects have enormous potential to retain existing homes and reduce the new building works, however more often than not poorly considered designs result in existing homes being overly stripped or simply being wiped clean, thrown into landfill and new large homes built in their place.
If we truly do care for sustainability, there’s a very simple approach that can achieve this - that is to encourage better renovations that aim to salvage more of existing homes, while designing new homes more efficiently to reduce home sizes and minimise unnecessary waste. If this were to become the norm in housing and value were attached to this approach, then we could help make quality homes become more attainable over time, while reducing the strain on the world’s resources and landfill for years to come.