What is #PlanetOverProfit?

This blog aims to answer the question: What should Planet Over Profit mean to us?

It’s a complicated question, but I’m going to do my best to explain what it means to me. To simplify things, I’m going to break down my answer into three main portions:

Sustainability Mindset
Kindness to Ourselves and Others
Responsible Choices

There a lot that will of important things I will miss by trying to answer this question this way, so please feel free to include what is important to you in the comments, and maybe we will cover it in detail in a future blog.

Let’s get started:

Sustainability Mindset

Certain things in life are finite. Fossil fuels are the perfect example. The process the earth went through to create fossil fuels took millions of years. We are consuming fossil fuels MUCH more quickly than they are being made. This creates an imbalance that means one thing: eventually we will run out of fossil fuels. If this is the case, why wait until we have almost exhausted them? Let’s research and implement more sustainable energy sources and make them viable NOW. There is no reason to wait, other than the fact that people with fossil fuel interests say we should. This does not mean we have to immediately stop using fossil fuels, but there does need to be a shift in our collective mindset. If innovation of technology that would benefit humankind AND the planet sounds pretty rad to you, that’s because it frickin’ is.

It may seem like there has been a shift towards renewable energy, but there is a lot of progress to be made. A quick Wikipedia check will tell you that fossil fuels still account for 85% of the world’s primary energy sources [(petroleum (34%), coal (28%), natural gas (23%)]. A national grid with access to sustainable energy resources in a variety of forms and a more conscientious effort to decrease energy consumption could easily make a dent in the amount of fossil fuels we are constantly consuming to power our lives.

The other side of a sustainability mindset means choosing a way of living that will be sustainable for future generations to come. This is a bit of radical thinking, but it’s possible we may need to adopt diets that are easier on the planet. It takes a lot of resources to feed the human race. Millions of people across the globe still don’t have enough food to eat in the year 2019, but humans in developed countries continue to waste food and eat more than their fair share. Increasing the amount of plants we eat, and limiting meat consumption will help cut down on our collective diet’s impact on the globe. It may seem like making subtle changes in your diet wouldn’t make much of a difference, but if EVERYONE makes a conscientious effort we CAN make a big difference.

Kindness to Ourselves and Others

“ ...it’s ridiculous for us to all expect ourselves to be at 100% all of the time”

It’s pretty likely that you’ve heard the whole “you’ve got to love yourself before you can love others” spiel. There’s definitely truth in it, and many of us recognize that. This doesn’t change the fact that sometimes it’s hard to understand what it truly means. For that I have no great answer. Some days are definitely better than others- I think it’s ridiculous for us to all expect ourselves to be at 100% all of the time. However, we owe it to ourselves and others to give kindness our best shot.

The argument I’m making is to be conscientious in most of your decisions. Maybe take an extra moment to assess the situation and how your actions can impact the environment around you (literally and figuratively).

Responsible Choices

Spend money on products you can be proud of. Think of the sweet water bottle you can get and make your own, while avoiding plastic bottles. Think of the exercise you can get by walking to your next destination and by taking the stairs when you get there. Some days life feels like it’s stuck at warp speed, and it’s hard to make informed decisions on products. That’s why Pasture is here to help you find out how to make this journey and leave behind a world that’s EVEN BETTER than the one you came in to.

To start things off, check out these Certified B Corps companies. They aim to balance profit and PURPOSE- because they realize that every decision big corporations makes has a huge impact on the planet (and therefore the people on it).