It’s been almost two years since we published our popular compilation of quotes on green living and sustainability. We’ve now decided to publish a sequel of sorts as we’ve discovered even more inspiring words about climate change, nature and our environment that we feel should be shared with the community.
As I made mention in our first post on curated green quotes, to the untrained mind, some quotes may seem unrelated to the environmental cause, but when you look at the bigger picture you will see the quote’s relevance.
I really hope these quotes help motivate you to take action to ensure our planet’s survival. Because let’s face it there really is no Planet B. No matter how tirelessly Elon Musk works to get us there.
— Jen, Editor-in-Chief xx
1. If we pollute the air, water and soil that keep us alive and well, and destroy the biodiversity that allows natural systems to function, no amount of money will save us. – David Suzuki
2.We have the choice to use the gift of our life to make the world a better place – or not bother. – Jane Goodall
3. Going back to a simpler life is not a step backward. – Yvon Chouinard
Going back to a simpler life is not a step backward. - Yvon Chouinard, founder of Patagonia Click To Tweet
4. The future will be green, or not at all. – Jonathon Porritt
5. If a man walk in the woods for love of them half of each day he is in danger of being regarded as a loafer, but if he spends his whole days as a speculator, shearing off those woods and making the Earth bald before her time, he is esteemed an industrious and enterprising citizen. – Henry David Thoreau
6. We are living on this planet as if we had another one to go to. – Terri Swearingen
7. We have the capacity to create a remarkably different economy: one that can restore ecosystems and protect the environment while bringing forth innovation, prosperity, meaningful work, and true security. – Paul Hawken
8. We must face up to an inescapable reality: the challenges of sustainability simply overwhelm the adequacy of our responses. With some honourable exceptions, our responses are too few, too little and too late. – Kofi A. Annan
9. The wounds we have inflicted on the earth can be healed… but if it is to be done, it must be done now. Otherwise it may never be done at all. – Jonathon Porritt
10. Let’s face it, there really is no ‘Planet B’ – no matter how tirelessly Elon Musk works to try to get us there. – Jennifer Nini
11. A planet being pushed to the edge will eventually turn on us. – Marco Lambertini
12. Try to leave the earth a better place than when you arrived. – Sidney Sheldon
13. People of conscience need to break their ties with corporations financing the injustice of climate change. – Desmond Tutu
14. I’m often asked whether I believe in global warming. I now just reply with the question: Do you believe in gravity? – Neil deGrasse Tyson
15. What will save us is not technology or science. What will save us is the ethical transformation of our society. – Carmelite Father Eduardo Agosta Scarel
16. Climate change is the single biggest thing that humans have ever done on this planet. The one thing that needs to be bigger is our movement to stop it. – Bill McKibben
17. If it can’t be reduced, repaired, rebuilt, refurbished, refinished, resold, recycled or composted, then it should be restricted, redesigned or removed from production. – Peter Seeger
18. When nature is viewed as a source of profit and gain, this has serious consequences for society. – Pope Francis
19. We are running the most dangerous experiment in history right now, which is to see how much carbon dioxide the atmosphere can handle before there is an environmental catastrophe. – Elon Musk
20. To do good, you actually have to do something. – Yvon Chouinard
21. The general population doesn’t know what’s happening, and it doesn’t even know that it doesn’t know. – Noam Chomsky
22. What’s better than buying better? Not buying at all. But businesses won’t sell you that concept because it’s just not as profitable. – Jennifer Nini
23. Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself. – Leo Tolstoy
24. The greatest change we need to make is from consumption to production, even if on a small scale, in our own gardens. If only 10% of us do this, there is enough for everyone. Hence the futility of revolutionaries who have no gardens, who depend on the very system they attack, and who produce words and bullets, not food and shelter. – Bill Mollison
25. The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new. – Socrates
26. Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not. – Dr. Seuss, The Lorax
27. If everyone uses more than their share, how can the earth support us? – Thanhha Lai
If everyone uses more than their share, how can the earth support us? - Thanhha Lai Click To Tweet28. When we destroy something created by man we call it vandalism, but when we destroy something by nature we call it progress. – Ed Begley Jr.
29. Every drop in the ocean counts. – Yoko Ono
30. I dream of a world where the truth is what shapes politics, rather than politics shaping what people think is true. – Neil deGrasse Tyson
31. Live simply so others may simply live. – Mother Theresa
32. Anyone who believes in indefinite growth on a physically finite planet is either mad, or an economist. – Sir David Attenborough
33. Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without. – New England proverb
34. We must rapidly begin the shift from a ‘thing-oriented’ society to a ‘person-oriented’ society. – Martin Luther King Jr.
35. There is no such thing as ‘away’. When we throw anything away it must go somewhere. – Annie Leonard
36. How could we ever have believed that it was a good idea to grow our food with poisons? – Jane Goodall
37. If we want to move towards a low-polluting, sustainable society, we need to get consumers to think about their purchases. – David Suzuki
38. Until you dig a hole, you plant a tree, you water it, and make it survive, you haven’t done a thing. You are just talking. – Wangari Maathai
39. The use of solar energy has not been opened up because the oil industry does not own the sun. – Ralph Nader
The use of solar energy has not been opened up because the oil industry does not own the sun. - Ralph Nader Click To Tweet40. The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything. – Albert Einstein
41. Don’t expect to see a change if you don’t make one. – Anonymous
Now over to you: What are some of your favourite sustainability quotes? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
Recommending reading:
- 32 Thought-Provoking Quotes About Ethical, Sustainable and Fast Fashion
- 60 Great Quotes About Sustainability, Green Living and Our Environment
- Get Educated With These Free Sustainable Fashion and Ethical Business Online Courses
- 4 Must-See Short Online Films on The Topic of Fast Fashion
- The Sustainable Fashion Blueprint Report 2018: Industry Overview and Business Opportunities
Inspired to shop responsibly? Keen to vote with your dollars? Check out our resources page for a comprehensive list of ethical and sustainable brands.
Title image courtesy of Shapes in the Sand.
