In the world of business, sustainability is taking the central stage. There are some great examples of how companies embrace it. One interesting case that comes to my mind is Polestar. A Swedish automotive brand that makes only electric cars. They are using blockchain technology to track all material sources. That is one of the ways to make sure that the making of the car is from sustainable production.
Needless to say, EVs are much better than ICE vehicles. How we make those EVs is equally important to the impact they create once produced. The Polestar has found its unique way to answer both sides of the equation. Yet there is one aspect of sustainability that is even more important. It has nothing to do with how things are made or what impact they will make on the environment. It has to do with a simple decision that anyone can make today, and that is to stop being wasteful.
A tiny cooking pot from Havana
My love for Cuban dance took me to Havana, Cuban salsa's capital of the world. You cannot be called Cuban Salsero unless you have danced salsa on the streets of Havana. Besides my love for Cuban dance, I fell in love with their culture, people, music, and cigars. The trip was full of cultural discoveries.
Every day, I would go to the dance classes. And after that, I would walk the streets of Havana, exploring the city and culture. Much of life in Havana is happening on the streets. One day while walking down the streets, I saw a person cleaning an old cooking pot. He was using a grinding wheel in the middle of the road. The cooking pot was so old and burnt, and my first thought was to throw it away. I would never imagine that someone would even bother cleaning a cooking pot like that. Most of the people from where I was coming from would throw the old one and go and buy a new one. But not in Cuba. I stood there for a while, looking at the man cleaning the pot who gave it a shine back. The cooking pot was maybe 50 years old, but nothing was wrong with it. You could still use it for years to come. The only wrong thing was my mind that is taught that it is better to throw away something old and buy new.
In the headless pursuit to have better and new things all the time, we got blind to the price we are paying. Overconsumption, an enormous gap between needs and wants, led to the tipping point. Our generation will need to decide whether we will have a future. Climate change, dying oceans, dying soil are knocking on our doors. The question is on what side of the future we want to be.
Cuba learned sustainability the hard way. The sanctions forced life of scarcity, but there is a lesson there. You would imagine that people in Cuba would feel desperate, sad, depressed, but it's quite the opposite. I have seen happy people enjoying life, cooking in old pots, dancing, and smiling. Now, look at the Western world for a moment—the world of new things. And you can see more depressed and sad people despite having everything. Sustainability could be the way to learn moderation and humility. Two things that planet Earth needs from us all.
A tiny cooking pot from Havana changed my perspective. I was so grateful for its lesson, and I took it to heart.
Turning everything sustainable would still not be enough to offset climate change. So let's do one thing first, become moderate and less wasteful. Planet Earth will be thankful for it as much as our children and all future generations.
My daughter will be born soon, and I cannot stop thinking about what kind of world she will live in and what I can do about it. One thing is guaranteed, she'll get my cooking pots. It may sound silly, but that is exactly what the world needs.