A Changing Environment

The way society has developed has seriously altered the environment both locally and worldwide.

• Cities are clogged with traffic causing pollution that is harmful to our health
• New buildings are being built on new greenfield sites rather than brownfield sites and our parks and open spaces are disappearing
• Each year more and more species are endangered or become extinct
• Acid rain is damaging rare and precious rain forests
• Millions of tonnes of waste is being landfilled every day
• Natural resources are running out
• CFCs and other chemicals are depleting the ozone layer that protects us from harmful radiation. Our climate is changing.

We can't go on like this. We are putting too great a strain on our planet. It's time for a new approach to development and the way we live.

"Sustainable development is development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."

- UN World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987

We depend on a finite amount of natural resources from the environment to provide our houses, food, medicines and clothes. Sustainable development is about valuing and safeguarding these resources and making sure future generations are able to enjoy the same or better quality of life than we enjoy today.

Each and every one of us has our part to play in sustainable living.

"Think globally, act locally and change personally."