- Green Lifestyle
Goodbye old habits and beaten paths.
Usually, we start a new topic off with an interview. Not this time though. This time, we have the courage to come straight to the point. Or better, to our opinion: We need more courage. Courage to drive change. We don’t just want to talk about it. We want to act.
Barbara Beiertz
Why?
Climate crisis. Extinction of species. Pollution. Racism. Poverty… you name it.
We are facing more than enough challenges. And before someone has the chance to reply “Yes, but who is supposed to pay for all of this?” and “What difference does it make if we only change something in our country?” – the so called “ostrich effect”, that holds us back – let’s focus on what it takes to not bury our heads into the sand. (“Forgetting that our butt is still sticking out, which will be kicked over and over again.”, is what my aunt used to add.)
Our recommendation: Our Arabica Blend and the single origin from Ethiopia.
So, what is courage?
When using this specific search engine we are all more than familiar with, we get about 345,000,000 results in 0.51 seconds. In the Duden – the dictionary of the Standard High German language – courage is described as the ability to overcome your fear in a dangerous, risky situation; Fearlessness when facing a situation that could cause fear.
The German word for courage is “Mut”. It comes from the Indo-European term “mo” (Germanic “moda”), which means as much as making an effort, having a strong will, striving for something. Quite smart those Germanic people.
So, courage helps us to overcome our fear and (re)gain our freedom to act.
But why do some people have more courage than others?
Let’s dive into psychology to answer this question: People you lack courage, tend to envision all kinds of possible and impossible consequences of a risk. They don’t even attempt to change things, they remain passive, are paralyzed, and unable to act. The problem about that: Waiting leads to a bad conscience, stress and feelings of guilt develop – followed by fear.
Courageous people are optimists. They look towards the future with a positive mindset, they believe in success, in their coping strategies. So far, the psychological approach. And because you can compare courage to a muscle that can be trained (at least to a certain extend), we now have some good news for you, instead of the usual upsetting catastrophic ones. Because good news proof, that “it” is possible. We can drive change. Every single one of us can. And especially all of us together.
Good News:
If someone (a private person) decides to live more climate friendly and sustainable, they can reduce their resource consumption caused by their lifestyle by 20-30% – from one day to the next, by e.g. driving less or changing their diet.* (Melanie Speck, lead author of one of the ”Zukunftsimpulse“ publications by the Wuppertal Institut für Klima, Umwelt, Energie GmbH)
How you can easily change your diet to a more sustainable one, you can read here.
In Andalusia the farming of tropical fruits is resource-efficient and causes lower CO2 emissions. And even more special: The fruits are sold directly to the end-consumers via “Crowdfarming”. Everyone benefits from that concept: Us consumers, the farmers, and even the environment, because during the transport the carbon dioxide emissions are lower compared to a sale via intermediaries, meaning food retailers. Find out more on www.crowdfarming.com/en
And more news from Spain: The government finances a new highway with a road surface made of recycled paper (that cannot be recycled any further). That way, the waste of the European Pulp and Paper Industries is used, and the CO2 emissions can be reduced by up to 75%.**
At the TU Wien, a method was developed to use bacteria to convert CO2 from the air into acetic acid, lactic acid, and ethanol. The substances can then again form the basis for the production of so far oil-based materials and fuels.***
And lastly, good news that made us especially happy: The medical journal PLOS Medicine published a long-term study that shows, that the (moderate) consumption of coffee lowers the risk for strokes and dementia.
Well, that explains why coffee means the world to us.****
There you go, that wasn’t too hard.
So, there is movement in the process of reaching the so-called 17SDGs (the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.) And because courage is the key to a happy life we are certain, that there is more good news to come. (Robert Biswas-Diener, Psychologist at Portland State University)
*www.rnd.de/wissen/nachhaltig-essen-wie-geht-das-und-was-bringt-das-EX657UMD3BDEVLRYWJ553LF46Y.html
**www.forschung-und-wissen.de/nachrichten/umwelt/spanien-baut-autobahn-aus-altem-papier-13375485
***www.techandnature.com/mini-co2-recycler-bakterien-verwandeln-kohlenstoff-in-wichtige-rohstoffe/
****www.mdr.de/wissen/kaffee-tee-gesundheit-100.html
