These 7 sustainability sins annoy us the most – and you?

At the climate conference in Sharm el-Sheikh it became clear once again: if humanity does not change course en masse now, limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees will no longer work. But many are still too good to take even the simplest measures to protect the planet.

We asked around the office which sustainability sins are the most annoying. These 7 points came out.

It was a nice lesson during the corona pandemic: many meetings are useless. And if they do have to take place, they can often do it via video calling. The home office has been on the rise since then, thanks to modern technology you can connect with each other anywhere.

Yet there are still diehards who get on a plane for a business trip only to fly back a few hours later via the same route.

The sustainability sins continue, but first a short commercial break:

And now back to the story…

The fashion industry is responsible for a large part of global CO2 emissions. Therefore, one should carefully make a selection for the wardrobe. Do I really need this piece? Who made it?

However, for some it is more important to have a new outfit every day. Wherever the textile comes from.

Oranges, bananas and onions: many types of fruit and vegetables are already packaged by nature. You have to peel them before you can enjoy them. Yet many people in the shops use a plastic bag to pack their fruit and vegetables extra.

You can also just stick the label on the apple or pear. Thoroughly wash your groceries at home and you’re good to go. It’s so easy to reduce your plastic consumption.

Very few in the Watson office are completely vegan. But many rarely eat meat and fish. The choice of vegetarian substitute products is now enormous. Meatless cooking is also often cheaper than the alternative. It doesn’t have to be meat or fish two or three times a day. And if a steak has to be on the table, you can at least look at the origin and livestock farming.

A fairly easy way to reduce waste is to bring Tupperware. When you go to the takeaway at noon, you can easily grab the Tupperware that you have at home or at the office. This means that there is no need to use disposable dishes at the food stall – and a lot of plastic can be saved.

It is wise not to throw your rubbish on the floor. Every toddler is taught that that’s what trash cans are for. That actually works quite well in Switzerland.

But there is one exception: throwing cigarettes on the floor seems the most normal thing in the world in this country.

Why can’t smokers just extinguish their butts and take them to the nearest bin? It shouldn’t be that hard…

Of course there are probably people who have good reasons to drive from A to B in their car alone. But if you stand on the street after work and look at the cars, you quickly notice that the vast majority of the vehicles contain exactly one person. Many of them probably do this out of sheer convenience, not because of a lack of alternatives.

You could save so much gas and gray energy if people carpooled together – or switched to public transport altogether. (cma)