One thing I have learnt in my five months with SustyVibes is that there is a difference between a sustainability enthusiast and a SustyViber. A Sustainability Enthusiast tries to teach people sustainability with their words but SustyVibers let their lifestyles speak for them. Before becoming a SustyViber, I had been introduced to plastic pollution as a Wecyclers volunteer. It was while reading up on plastic pollution campaigns in Lagos that I read about SustyVibes. What caught
me was their mission statement: making sustainability a part of everyday life in Nigeria. I used to come out for Wecyclers and preach: “repent from throwing away plastic, the destruction of the environment is at hand” and that would be that. Ironically, Wecyclers did not reach my neighborhood. So basically, I
could do nothing except for talk.
I was curious about learning what I could do daily in my own hood, my home, my life for environmental sustainability. SustyVibes granted me that opportunity.
True to their words, SustyVibes has made sustainability actionable for me. Where I saw only recycling as a solution to plastic pollution, they have introduced alternatives such as Upcycling, wooden products etc. The Susty conversations especially, even though I never catch up with it live because of insufficient
data, introduce so many options for sustainable living. We only recently talked about a plant based diet, something I shall take serious whenever I decide to lose weight.
Being a SustyViber exercises my brain. In my subgroup, Susty On The Streets, I have been engaged in tasks that require creative thinking. Being a SustyViber keeps me up to date. Everyone of us bring sustainability news from our different walks of life to our WhatsApp group. We share news and talk about them. It was on our group that I discovered Nigeria has a Law that allows the government to take over your land if you dump waste on it, even if you have a C of O.
SustyVibes is also a family, a very helpful and stress free one at that. All you have to do is ask. Everyone is ready to help each other. You can even chat the founder up on WhatsApp! (I guess that’s the Nigerian in me speaking) I get reminders of our upcoming events and further explanations of our tasks in my mail. I
have attended many sustainability events under our umbrella.
Finally, SustyVibes is all about doing. Every event we prepare for, every discussion we engage in, there is always the question of what can we do to make sustainability possible. It’s more impactful explaining to people why you carry around your own water bottle than telling them to stop drinking bottled water.
So when I walk out of ShopRite with my black shopping bag like a boss, or wear the jewelry I make from PET bottles, I know that I am living my dream. I am exuding Sustainability Vibes. I am trending sustainability. I am a SustyViber
Sonia Ugwunna is the winner of the 2018 Write4Climate Essay Competition. She raises environmental awareness by creating and using plastic jewelry from PET bottles. She is eighteen years old.